Help Team Lipscomb ride Ragbrai, HEAL Milwaukee!

TEAM ALMA pedals to break cycles of violence in families and communities throughout the city of Milwaukee.  We ride to support the Alma Center and its healing-focused approach to create peaceful change.  2019 marks the 6th year that TEAM ALMA will pedal 400+ miles across Iowa in the Ragbrai biking event. This year we will be taking a southern route, passing through 7 different towns and cities, finishing off with a complete day along the Mississippi river (from Burlington, Iowa to Keokuk, Iowa)!

Each mile we ride, we raise money for the Alma Center’s violence prevention work and reentry services. This year we are expecting between 25 and 35 individuals to join TEAM ALMA, including, a federal prosecutor, a bilingual psychologist, an energy worker, an executive director of a domestic violence victim advocacy agency, police officers, an executive director of a low-income community advocacy agency, multiple men who have spent time incarcerated, undergraduate youngins, maybe an EX-GOVERNOR of Wisconsin(?!) and MORE. TEAM ALMA 2019 will be made up of people from FAR AND WIDE and we couldn't be more thrilled! Having such a diverse group of community members, all committed to the same cause - that of ending cycles of violence in families and communities throughout the city of Milwaukee - is simply extraordinary.

But how does biking and Iowa have anything to do with ending violence, you might ask? Well, TEAM ALMA's goal is to LEARN, CONNECT, and HEAL. Milwaukee is the most segregated city in the United States. This reality has many consequences, including the fact that different communities all exist in the same city, without the chance or need to ever interact. While this may seem benign and/or normal, it creates seriously dangerous realities for many. When people know so little about each other, they are more likely to create false stories about the other, condemning them to hurtful stereotypes. These stereotypes lead to beliefs, and these beliefs lead to actions. 

In the city of Milwaukee this outcome creates violence and increased separation across lines, whether they be geographical, political, racial, or any other. TEAM ALMA strives to shrink this separation between communities by bringing together people who normally exist in isolation from one another. And by bring together, we mean, get them on bikes for 7 days and 400+ miles, into tents for 7 nights and 7 Iowa cities, and outside their comfort zones and into the consciousness of one another for a total of 216 hours (July 19-July 27th).

Team Alma is a role model in community building – getting to know each other, playing together, and sharing together leads to profound transformation which ripples out into the community. Our riders represent different stakeholders who bike, play, sweat, camp, laugh and eat pie – and we’ll share the joy and challenges through social media so you can understand and support our journey. 

We ask you to support your favorite riders or donate to the Alma Center overall. All donations are tax-deductible and will help us heal more men, and in doing so improve the lives of women, children and communities. Thank you!

Visit almacenter.org to learn more about our healing-focused care approach.