Many years ago, BriJit Jenkins was 17 years old, living in a tent, pregnant with her daughter and seemingly out of options. Now, Jenkins is one of the most active organizers in the local punk community and is creating spaces for vulnerable community members. In 2020, she, along with her friends and partner, founded Radical Alternative Development, a punk nonprofit that works to provide resources and a sense of community to underserved youth and adults. Today, R.A.D is one of the biggest supporting forces for Eugene’s alternative subculture. 

It all started when Jenkins was a child, living in a lower-middle-class family that struggled with a history of drug addiction and mental illness. “My mom didn’t really have a lot of foresight on how to be a mom, but she tried really hard,” Jenkins says. Her stepfather was an alcoholic and she was constantly surrounded by instances of domestic violence and drug use. “I thought it was normal just to get wasted every single day and not really have a healthy family life,” she says. 

Despite the challenges at home, Jenkins says getting involved in the punk music scene gave her a way out. “I feel like punk rock basically raised me,” she says. In the punk community, there’s a mixed bag of punks that are straight edge, meaning they don’t smoke or drink, and punks that embrace the culture of drug use. “Obviously, when I was a teenager, that’s what I was doing.” 

Fleeing from an abusive household, Jenkins ran away from home as a teenager and started living on the streets. Eventually, she ended up living in the Nevada desert, which is where she got pregnant with her daughter. Jenkins says the combination of knowing that she was going to bring a child into the world, along with her family members dying of overdose and suicide, helped her realize, “I need to get my shit together so I can be a healthy mom.” 

A year and a half later, Jenkins had her second child. A short while after, she met her husband of 17 years, Daniel Jenkins. “He adopted my kids, and I adopted his son, and so we have a blended family,” BriJit Jenkins says. “We both came from a really fucked up past, and we just tried really hard to be healthy for our kids and that’s why we started RAD.” 

Jenkins says because they both came from such difficult backgrounds, they wanted to create something that shows young people that they can be radical and alternative while at the same time not falling into addiction. “Community is literally everything to people, because if you don’t have people around to talk to or validate your thoughts, it’s really hard to feel motivated,” she says. 

Now, Jenkins is a mental health specialist, certified in alcohol and drug counseling. She’s also in a band, Rot//Woven. Jenkins works with clients directly but also uses her skills and experience to create spaces where vulnerable community members can feel safe and loved without fear of judgment. Jenkins and the people of RAD continue to host community events where people from all kinds of backgrounds get together to enjoy the embrace of music, community and joy. “I really do care about all these kids. I really see myself in them a lot,” Jenkins says. 

 Find out more about Radical Alternative Development on Instagram @rad.eugene.oregon or online on RadEugene.org.