Skateboard ministry honored with national grant

A cross made of broken skateboards hangs above the halfpipe inside the Serious JuJu indoor skate park, a reminder to the kids and community that anyone and anything can be reclaimed.

The Serious JuJu ministry serves skateboarders of all ages, from elementary school to 18-plus, with a mission to provide a safe, supportive environment to those who might otherwise feel like an outcast.

Reverend Miriam Mauritzen and her team of volunteers provide food, share the gospel and offer a sanctuary for kids from a variety of backgrounds — some with parents who are incarcerated or suffer from addiction, some who deal with neglect and food insecurity.

After nearly 12 years of service, Serious JuJu received this year’s Sam and Helen R. Walton Award from the Presbyterian Church Foundation. The national recognition comes with a $50,000 grant on behalf of the founding family of Walmart, to be used for the continued improvement of Serious JuJu’s outreach in the community.

“JuJu’s one of the last stops for a lot of kids. It’s that baseline of support and safety,” Mauritzen said. “We all come together because we all believe in these kids and in these skateboarders and in the stories of what’s going on in their lives. The kind of perseverance and strength and resolve they need…we’re in awe of them.”

It takes between $70,000 and $80,000 a year to run the ministry, according to JuJu volunteer Tom Esch, and he said the $50,000 grant will go a long way toward construction improvements, rent or a possible new facility.

The team will continue to rely on the generosity of local churches, organizations and donors going forward, but Esch said the recognition brought by the Walton grant has served as affirmation for their work.

He said he hopes others will see the award as a cue to step up and donate time and funds, as well.

Serious JuJu began on July 7, 2007 when J.D. and Niki Carabin decided to take water bottles down to the Woodland Avenue Skate Park in Kalispell to establish a relationship with the skaters.

“They noticed that there were no crowds, no parents, typically, at the park cheering them on. No competitions or games,” Mauritzen said of the Carabins first glimpse of the park. “These are isolated atheletes who are out there doing their craft on their own. (The Carabins) were looking at them and wondering who’s loving on them, who’s caring for them, who’s checking on them.”

That winter, the couple began hosting skaters at their home, setting up a makeshift park in their garage, complete with homemade ramps and rails.

“They quickly realized that these are kids that were surviving on their own in many ways,” Mauritzen said.

In order to make sure the ministry continued, the Carabins sold their home to pay for rent on an official facility on Airport Road and began construction on the Flathead’s only indoor skate park.

Since then, the ministry has grown, changed hands and moved to a large warehouse on West Center Street. It served over 325 kids in the last year.

As the acting pastor for the ministry, Mauritzen splits her time between her role as the community pastor for the First Presbyterian Church of Kalispell and her work with Serious JuJu, leading special services and talks with the kids who come to skate.

Mauritzen said she herself grew up “on the wrong side of the tracks” in her home state of South Carolina.

“I also recognized that when people took my voice seriously and took my questions seriously and my pain seriously, then something beautiful started to bloom,” she said. “As a pastor that started to be my call...to pay attention to the voices that others don’t listen to and take them seriously.”

Though Mauritzen said she once gave skateboarders little thought in her day-to-day life, through the ministry she came to take notice of the kids’ athleticism and passion.

“Skateboarders are not always seen as being desirable or being the kinds of kids you want your kids hanging out with. They often are seen as being these orphans that have no one around them except for maybe what’s perceived to be drugs or this kind of abuse culture,” Mauritzen said. “They don’t have to deal with that perception or that reality here. They’re free of that.”

For as much as the JuJu team gives and serves the children of the community, Esch said that the kids also work to give back, both as friends and teachers to the volunteers and as public servants, giving their time every other month to serve a meal at the Samaritan House or hanging Christmas lights and wreaths downtown.

“If you really want to invest in something that’s going to change this city, it’s investing in these young kids,” Esch said.

For more information or to become a partner with Serious JuJu, visit www.seriousjuju.com or send donations to P.O. Box 705.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.