Adidas, Community Help Beast Fingers Climbing Gym Avoid Eviction

The gym needed to do some problem-solving of its own, though. It had been sponsored by Adidas in its first years of existence with the national brand providing funding for operating expenses. But Adidas scaled back its contributions at the end of 2022 as Anderson was in the process of recovering from injuries from a car crash the previous September. The combination meant Anderson needed time to get rent money together.

But Standard Group, the landlord of the 5280 Broadway property, didn’t want to wait any longer, notifying Beast Fingers that it must pay its back rent in full and setting a January 18 date in Adams County Court for an eviction proceeding.

Luckily, it never got to that point: When Adidas caught wind of the problem, Anderson says, the company reopened communications about additional support and what it would take to build the gym into a sustainable operation.

As a result, Beast Fingers, with the help of donations from the public and Adidas, was able to pay up before going to court and will now focus on fundraising for February rent and stabilizing for the rest of 2023.

“The community is really passionate about keeping the gym,” Anderson says. “The fundraiser definitely was stressful, but I think we just tried do our best to make sure that we did everything we could to keep the doors open and being able to develop more meaningful conversations with Adidas was pretty powerful.

“We’re still not out of the water yet, but it’s getting close,” Anderson adds. “It couldn’t have been done without all this support, and all the people that really got behind the gym to make all this happen and for that I’m extremely grateful.”

For most of its life, Beast Fingers has served as an after-school care program for children in the area. Anderson charged between $35 and $70 per month for the service, supervising and coaching young climbers until their parents could pick them up. While he’s tried to save the gym financially, he switched the model to selling $100-per-month memberships targeted at adults to create a membership base.

That base has grown and that, plus Adidas’ renewed support, makes Anderson hopeful he can restart the after school program.

“More than anything, people really want us to bring our youth programs back,” he says.

Officially having a nonprofit arm will also help. Beast Fingers Kids, the nonprofit arm dedicated to youth programs and supporting the Globeville area, was officially recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization on December 31, 2022, so any donations from that point are tax deductible.

“Ultimately, the conversation now is who else can we bring in to assist in this work?” Anderson says.

The gym will begin looking for other sponsors and partners in addition to Adidas and it now has the ability to apply for grants to supplement the youth programs close to Anderson’s heart. Until the details of the Adidas partnership are made clearer, which Anderson expects to happen before the end of February, the gym will still need to raise about $3,000 to make sure February’s rent payment comes in time.

Anderson wants to do everything possible to avoid the potential for more legal action from Standard Group, which did not respond to a request for comment.

“The goal is to stay in Globeville as long as I can and just really build a community,” he says. “This is something that I wish somebody would have put in my hood. …There are people who have dreams of doing great work for communities and I think some people are afraid. My hope is that people will see something like this and realize that if your heart is right and you have a passion to do something for your community people will get behind you and help make it a reality because that’s what has happened for us.”

Contribute to the fundraiser or sign up for a membership on the Beast Fingers website.