An initiative sparked by Spartans athlete Jake Jurgeneit, Trinity Rangers creates opportunities for young adults with intellectual disabilities and Trinity Western University athletes and students to grow together in friendship and community, through a variety of activities and events that welcome participants to come together to share fun times and build positive memories.
“He’s awesome,” Jake Jurgeneit introduces his friend Danny by saying. “He’s such a great guy.”
Jake is a Spartans athlete and Danny is a friend he made through Trinity Rangers, a program that creates opportunities for young adults with intellectual disabilities and Trinity Western University athletes and students to grow together in friendship and community.
It is a program that Jake helped to create.
Following the program’s launch in December 2021, Trinity Rangers has since hosted a variety of activities and community events, welcoming participants to come together to share fun times and build positive memories.
“Being there for one another and supporting us in our sports is really awesome,” Jake says, “but [more importantly is] just acknowledging them and doing whatever we can to make them know that they are celebrated and loved...”
Partnership with Young Life Capernaum
Retracing the journey from the beginning, the vision for Trinity Rangers came to Jake out of a similar program that he had joined in his last year of junior hockey. From that experience, Jake wanted to start a parallel initiative at TWU. He brought the idea to Jeff Gamache, Director of Athletics, who showed his support and connected Jake with Kathy Dubbeldam, Director of Young Life Capernaum.
A ministry of Young Life of Canada, Young Life Capernaum works specifically with young adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. As a faith-based organization, the ministry also seeks to answer questions from youth about who Jesus is and provides life lessons that help youth to explore their faith.
“The important thing was for the young adults to contribute,” Kathy emphasized. “They have things to offer, gifts and skills. We want them to have opportunities to grow in leadership.”
Encouraged to contribute and lead
When Kathy and Jake met, they discovered how Jake’s great idea could match with Young Life’s ministry needs.
Young Life Capernaum works with teens, and the ministry was constantly looking for ways to help those who have graduated from their programs to continue to develop meaningful friendships into their young adult years. Jake’s idea of providing spaces for college-age people to come together was a perfect match for Young Life Capernaum.
Kathy and her team at Capernaum were able to provide the training and structure needed to help Jake bring his idea for Trinity Rangers to life. In turn, Trinity Rangers provided the safe and welcoming space for Capernaum’s young adult graduates.
Kathy recalls their first planning meeting at McDonald’s. Among the visionaries were Kathy, Jake, Danny, Jackie, and another Capernaum alumnus, Ray. Together, the group dreamed up ways to help youth with disabilities participate and contribute within a supportive community.
Trinity Ranger’s program design was started through this collaborative effort. “The important thing was for the young adults to contribute,” Kathy emphasized. “They have things to offer, gifts and skills. We want them to have opportunities to grow in leadership.”
Kathy and her team at Capernaum were able to provide the training and structure needed to help Jake bring his idea to life. In turn, Trinity Rangers provided the safe and welcoming space for Capernaum’s young adult graduates.
A community builds momentum
The first Trinity Rangers event was a Christmas party that saw fifty people in attendance, including about 30 young adults from Young Life Capernaum.
The goal of the event was to be intentional and create one-on-one relationships. Jake designed a buddy system to help each person make a meaningful connection with a friend. As for the outcomes, Jake described it as a “super big success.”
“Everyone was having a great time,” he said, recalling the first gathering.
From there, a momentum began to build. “It was awesome to see how quickly it picked up and I saw that it was something that’d be so awesome to continue doing,” Jake said. Soon, Trinity Rangers began to plan other events. Jake lists some examples, “We hang out and play board games. We host sports night and pizza parties." As of late, the group has been meeting in a church gym in Fort Langley.
“It’s just awesome to see those personal connections,” Jake said.
“Danny is just one example; there have been a ton of others.”
Building life-long friendships
Jake tells the story of Danny who participated in the Trinity Ranger’s polar plunge in March, running into the water at White Rock in support of Special Olympics British Columbia. Danny also enjoys coming out to Spartans games and even goes out to UBC to cheer on the Spartans. Recently, Jake’s roommates have been going with Danny to Village Church on Sundays. Previously, Danny would take the bus by himself, but now he catches a ride with friends from Trinity Rangers and they go for coffee or ice cream afterwards.
“It’s just awesome to see those personal connections,” Jake said. “Danny is just one example; there have been a ton of others.”
Jackie, another youth, has formed a connection with the women’s volleyball team. Jackie goes out to the Spartans volleyball games to support her friends, and the team welcomes her as their own. Jake highlights the power of mutual encouragement and friendship.
“Being there for one another and supporting us in our sports is really awesome,” Jake says, “but [more importantly is] just acknowledging them and doing whatever we can to make them know that they are celebrated and loved. It’s just been really cool to see all that.”
That moment stood out to Kathy as it demonstrated the friendship between the two fans. “It shows that you’re not just here to volunteer; you’re invested,” she said. “Ray is your friend. You’re invested, and not just here to host an event.”
Two hockey fans build a connection
At each Trinity Rangers event, new members join from Capernaum and from TWU. One highlight for Kathy was the story of Ray, who loves the Calgary Flames. Ray would wear his Flames jersey to Trinity Rangers events—a bold thing to do among Canucks fans in B.C. Seeing Ray’s example, however, a Spartans athlete who was also a Flames supporter decided to do the same as Ray, and the two of them proudly sported their Flames jerseys in a sea of blue.
That moment stood out to Kathy as it demonstrated the friendship between the two fans. “It shows that you’re not just here to volunteer; you’re invested,” she said. “Ray is your friend. You’re invested, and not just here to host an event.”
“It’s really cool to see that happening, to see them stepping out in leadership,” said Kathy.
Fostering leadership in young adults
This friendship also illustrates the vision of Trinity Rangers, which is to create spaces for genuine community. Everyone is invited to participate, contribute and lead. At the upcoming Young Life Capernaum and Trinity Rangers fundraiser events, for example, both Danny and Jake will be speaking.
“It’s really cool to see that happening, to see them stepping out in leadership,” said Kathy.
Next year, Kathy and other leaders hope to see sustainability in the Trinity Rangers program. They are envisioning ways to expand the program into other schools and universities, especially to cities where Capernaum has an existing ministry presence.
Upcoming events
This summer, the Trinity Rangers is hosting a fundraising concert with Young Life Capernaum on June 1, and a carnival on June 25 at the Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church. To learn more about Trinity Rangers, please visit the Trinity Rangers website.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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