For the founders, as well as one of the board members of Radical Alternative Development, the punk scene is all they’ve ever known.
“If I didn’t get into this field, or get pregnant when I was a teenager, I probably would be dead, too, and punk rock really saved my life,” founder BriJit Jenkins says. With that in mind, BriJit and Daniel Jenkins co-founded RAD, a group of mental health specialists, social workers and drug/alcohol counselors dedicated to punk rock in Lane County.
Part of this work is RAD’s all ages mental health benefit shows, which brings all walks of life in the punk scene together to rock out and get the resources the Jenkins wish they had.
RAD is throwing its third annual all ages mental health benefit punk show — called Together We are Enough — on Sept. 7 at Washington Jefferson Skatepark where there will be performances from nine different punk bands, a flat ground skate competition, and a nonprofit resource fair with a focus on mental health. The winner of the skate competition will earn a merch bundle from the featured bands and a complete skateboard deck from Tactics, the Jenkins say.
The nonprofit resource fair will include booths from groups like CORE Eugene, TransPonder, Burrito Brigade and White Bird Clinic; with all donations from the event going to Black Thistle Street Aid, which provides health care to people who are homeless in Eugene and Springfield.
Habak and Lagrimas, two punk bands with large followings, are flying out from Mexico and California to take part in the show. The Jenkins’ own band Rot/Woven will also perform, along with Prager Youth, Weapon World, Aggro, Ablation Cascade, Silence Mill and Root_dir.
Both BriJit and Daniel Jenkins have been in a variety of punk bands together for more than 20 years, and they’ve been in the punk scene since they were kids. “I got a skateboard when I was 12 years old with a NOFX and Vandal sticker on it and I was sold — I’m gonna get a mohawk, ride my skateboard and cause some chaos,” Daniel says.
To the Jenkins, being punk is not only about mohawks and being rebellious, it’s a lifestyle that accepts the weird and unconventional. BriJit and Daniel say they both came from backgrounds steeped in mental illness and substance abuse, but punk rock, combined with jobs in social services, helped them in the path to recovery.
“Punk rock and mental health work was kind of our own recovery program, and we found so much power in it,” Daniel says.
The Jenkins, along with their board of directors, are working to turn RAD into an official nonprofit. With 501(c)(3) status, the Jenkins are hoping to continue to raise money for their projects as well as getting their own venue. “We also have a goal to get our own all-ages DIY venue to where we have a community resource center and a practice space for kids with music, and instruments there and then a recording space,” BriJit says.
Currently both Daniel and BriJit work 40 hours a week in social service jobs, with RAD being their passion project. “The profit we get is seeing those kids start a fucking band,” Daniel says.
The free Together We Are Enough benefit show, skateboard competition and resource fair is 1 pm Sept. 7 at Washington Jefferson Park.
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
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Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
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