Southern Ute Tribal members Kai Roubideaux and David Latham are the latest addition to the SunUte Community Center staff as fitness trainers. Roubideaux is currently working towards obtaining his personal trainer certificate with the help of SunUte Community Center. By working with SunUte, he will be able to work and gain hands on experience. Lathom is collaborating with SunUte to gain all the necessary experience he needs in order to apply for Physical Therapy School.

SunUte is working with these two individuals to train, support and help them gain a better understanding of the clients they serve. “As a team we’re excited to have tribal members want to come and work with us,” SunUte Community Center Director, Robin Duffy-Wirth stated.

Roubidoux grew up in the community and spent hours in the center when he was young, where he was welcomed back with open arms. Unfortunately, he will be leaving Ignacio again at the end of August to return to college at Johnson and Wales University in Denver. He is currently working towards getting his degree in Exercise Science. Before he leaves, the center will ensure his completion of the personal training certificate program, so that he is able to return to SunUte for future summers as a trainer.

Lathom is dedicating a year to training in a variety of positions at SunUte, in order to have enough experience to apply for Physical Therapy School. “Getting into PT [Physical Therapy] School is very difficult — they don’t want people straight out of school, they want people with experience and for David that’s what we’re providing,” Duffy-Wirth emphasized. “We are his base, we want to make sure he gets all the experience here.”

The opportunity to work with SunUte was made possible through the TEAM’s program that connects Southern Ute tribal members with proper employment practices. “It just makes me feel awesome that these guys are choosing SunUte — we are truly helping and working with the membership like our mission states,” Duffy-Wirth expressed.