Foundation hopes to let kids ‘open up’ about bullying
Oakland County businessman opens nonprofit for area kids
Inside of Juggernaut’s, youngsters will find a welcoming place to do their homework as well as gaming stations, board games, comic books and a podcast room so kids can “make their own YouTube channel.”
An Oakland County entrepreneur has opened Juggernaut’s Kids Foundation in Roseville, which provides kids with a community outreach center that focuses on ant-bullying advocacy.
Rob Durham, who started Juggernaut’s Moving & Storage in Troy about five years ago, has used the business’s proceeds to finance charitable events for area youngsters. This past Saturday. He held an open house at the foundation’s location on Utica Road, the first of several planned outlets.
“Our mission is to help as many kids as possible who are having trouble at home or trouble at school. We want help them find that confidence to open up to their peers through our network of volunteers,” Durham said.
Durham said he’s found kids tend to “shut down” and shy away from talking about times when they encounter bullying behavior. He has enlisted the help of licensed therapists, social workers and tutors, as well as his friends who have launched a Big Brother-type of mentoring program to “try to make all the kids feel good about themselves.”
The Roseville resident and his wife, Ashley, a nurse, decided to set up a nonprofit organization to pay for Christmas events, Easter egg hunts and taking children on free trips to the Detroit Zoo. This week, he has rented out a laser tag facility for 80 kids.
“My business has blessed me to take my three children to places I didn’t get to go to when I was a kid,” Durham said. “So I wanted to make sure we share that when my kids bring their friends over and have a good time. I see that enjoyment they enjoyment they have playing with our toy, and I wanted to see that look on other kids’ faces.”
Inside of Juggernaut’s, youngsters will find a welcoming place to do their homework as well as gaming stations, board games, comic books and a podcast room so kids can “make their own YouTube channel.”
Durham said in today’s complicated society of kids and social media, just about anyone can experience the loneliness caused by feelings of ostracized.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re popular or not, all it takes is for one group of kids to turn on you,” he said.
Anneliese Ryder brought her three children to attend the opening. She said her youngest son, a 13-yearold, has been bullied his entire life. She is hoping Juggernauts will help his self esteem.
“I found about this place on a Facebook Roseville group posting,” she said. “We live right around the corner from here. We saw them working on the building, putting the signs up in widows. They did a soft opening last month, and we sat and talked with them, so I said we are going to come back when they do open.”
Juggernaut’s Kids Foundation is located at 30771 Utica Road (south of 13 Mile Road), Roseville. Tentative hours are 4:-30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.