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Mckayla Leonares finds accessible health care and an unexpected path back to the sport she loves

Mckayla Leonares has loved the sport of climbing since she was 20 years old. Whether outdoors on a rockface or pushing upward on an indoor climbing wall, the discipline has given her strength, mobility, confidence, and best yet, good health.

“Trying to figure out how to move myself up a route,” the 28-year-old Leonares says, “it’s mentally invigorating.”

However, it hasn’t always come cheap.

Climbing, like most other sports, has not been immune to rising inflation. There are shoes, belts, carabiners, chalk bags, harnesses, and helmets to buy. Then there might be the monthly membership to a climbing gym. Nowadays, climbers in Central Texas looking to train consistently in a gym (and avoid the hot sun) are looking at costs anywhere from $950 upfront for a year to $95 if paying month-by-month.

As a service worker in the restaurant industry who arrived in Austin two years ago, she’s always prioritized needs like health care first and extracurriculars last. But finding a connection to health care hasn’t always been easy, either.

“It’s really hard to find a provider out-of-pocket,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t even know how to go about scheduling most things out-of-pocket without insurance.”

In February, though, Leonares found peace of mind with MAP (the Central Health Medical Access Program), a health care coverage plan for Travis County residents with low income. She enrolled in February.

Then, even better news followed.

One day while perusing the website of Crux Climbing Gym, a Central Texas-based climbing center with two locations in Austin and another in Pflugerville, Leonares was shocked to learn her MAP coverage could connect her to a monthly climbing membership.

“We understand that everyone comes from different backgrounds with different incomes, and we also understand systems of oppression have long-term impacts that contribute to an individual’s financial stability,” the line on Crux’s website read. “Our hope is that with this model, we can challenge those systems and work toward a community that fully represents everyone.”

A Low-Cost Climbing Program

In late 2023, Crux Climbing Gym launched “Send What You Can,” a membership program aimed at broadening access to climbers with low income.

“We’ve always strived to make climbing accessible for all,” said Grace Nicholas, Crux Climbing Gym’s chief operating officer.

Nicholas said the gym was first motivated by Museums for All, a national initiative which accepts reduced rates to museums for individuals on federal assistance programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Locally, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Zilker Botanical Gardens are among the Central Texas entities that provide free admission or reduced rates to MAP members through the Museums for All initiative.

“It’s that idea of, ‘Health is wealth,” Rudy Ybarra, vice president of business development at Sendero Health Plans, part of the Central Health system, said. “It’s not just going to the doctor that will protect your physical health, but it’s also your physical activity and your mental health. Getting out in those spaces will prevent you from having to go to the doctor more often — they will save you instead for the times when it’s really needed.“

Crux’s program requires members to be enrolled in MAP, SNAP, STAR (State of Texas Access Reform Medicaid Program), CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), or WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) and requires a $10 sign-up, proof of eligibility, and then an agreed upon rate.

So far, Nicholas said, a little less than two dozen members are enrolled.

“We realized gyms across the nation were increasing rates, and because of rent increases, we were also looking at needing to increase our rates,” Nicholas said. “But something about that didn’t settle with me, because we were essentially moving up our bracket of who our clientele could be.”

Leonares was grateful for the opportunity.

“This has been the most consistent time in my life that I’ve been able to climb,” she said. “The memberships are pretty expensive, so it has been really affordable and allowed me to do it more often.”

Crux Climbing Gym’s discounted memberships are just one piece of the organization’s promise to bring more access to people in Travis County, too. It’s also matched community donations to raise more than $12,000 for the NAACP, Austin Justic Coalition, Campaign Zero, and Black Lives Matters; it’s hosted adaptive climbing days for people with greater needs; and it’s worked with nonprofit organizations to provide discounted rates to summer camps and those in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.

“I know how hard it is to find resources like this. And I know how discouraging it can be to navigate the health care system.” – Mckayla Leonares

Getting Health Care

While being able to climb consistently is a value-add in Leonares’ life, having access to comprehensive health care has been transformational.

After learning about MAP online, she filled out an application, got approved, and then had a MAP card within days.

“The application process was so easy,” she said. “I didn’t know that something like that was available.”

Next came a primary care appointment at the CommUnityCare Health Centers South Austin Health Center, a multi-discipline health care facility on South 1st Street which offers family medicine, internal medicine, and women’s health—among other specialties. CommUnityCare is part of the Central Health system.

“Honestly, this was some of the best care that I have received,” she said. “I think the surprising part was how comprehensive it was, how willing (physicians) were to answer my questions and give me resources for my next appointment. I never felt any of my questions were breezed over.”

Understanding the full breadth of her health care coverage was a vital step forward for Leonares, who hadn’t always been guaranteed that right working inside restaurants. Sometimes, that concept felt impossible. Some years, she went without it.

“I know how hard it is to find resources like this,” she said. “And I know how discouraging it can be to navigate the health care system.”

But she never gave up.

She spends much of her free time researching and learning about public programs. In the case of MAP, she will have to re-apply in August and confirm her eligibility after her first six-month term ends.

Whatever knowledge she picks up, she often tries to pay it forward.

“I’m always talking about MAP,” Leonares said. “I’m always telling people, ‘If you live here in the city, you will qualify.’”

The Future Ahead

Nicholas says Crux Climbing Gym’s long-term goal is to make the sport of climbing more accessible.

“Going somewhere to get physical health totally helps your mental game and life in general,” she said. “It’s a luxury to go to a gym and work out. So, if there are any barriers we can take down to allow for more of our community members to benefit, we’re going to try.”

On a recent midweek morning, Leonares slipped on her climbing shoes, stepped on the mat, and put her chalky hands to the wall.

A tough climb was next.

No doubt, it was a difficult route, full of inverted walls and shifty holds.

“That route has been the bane of my existence,” she said.

That being said, “I keep coming back,” she said. “It’s very interesting to see the progress in that sense.”