PHOTO/WINTHROP UNIVERSITY

Janiva Willis, a Charlotte clinical social worker, is cycling across country for her nonprofit, I Dream in Colors.

Janiva Willis will go to the ends of America for kids.

Willis, the executive director of non-profit I Dream in Colors, is biking cross-country March 26 with the Dream Challenge Tour. She will ride from San Diego, California, to Charlotte – 3,714 miles in 78 days – to raise money  and awareness for mentors in the lives of children.  

“My  friends were like ‘Wow Jay, that’s amazing,’ but they were looking at me like I was crazy,” she said. “My mom is my biggest supporter and fan, so when I say I’m going to do something like that, she believed me from Day 1. She was like ‘Whatever you need done, I’m your biggest cheerleader.”

During the trip, Willis will stop in several cities to host promotional pep rallies. On June 10, she’ll make a stop at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill. Cyclists can join her on the 30-mile stretch to Charlotte on June 11 by registering on the tour website.  

Willis is riding to pay forward the time and energy mentors shared with her during her formative years. A native of Irishtown, New Brunswick, Canada, Willis earned a softball scholarship to Winthrop and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees.

A clinical social worker by training and profession, Willis stepped away to help young people handle stress and anxiety. That drive led her to the concept of a non-profit that would incorporate programs using evidence-based mentoring theories. I Dream in Colors, which provides positive life experiences, specifically to youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or in need of additional academic and life support was the result.  

“It’s to give them hope and show them the importance of not just the kids but the community the importance of giving our time and our talent,” said Willis, who earned Winthrop degrees in 2005 and 2008. “We can help the youth reach their dreams for their future.”

Willis has been training for three months with biking and twice-daily sessions that includes pilates and cardio activity. Along with training for the physical toll of biking across country, she’s preparing for the mental strain as well.

“Cycling across country is not just about the physical,” she said. “I’ve probably been more about the mental as well, considering you’re on a bike for five or six hours at a time, day after day for long distances.

“Being able to prepare my mind along with the physicality of what I’m going to do, obviously you can’t simulate cycling across country until you do it.”

“For me, it’s like carrying a torch in the Olympics,” she said. “I’m carrying the torch for these kids the way others have done for me in that the opportunities are limitless. They can be whatever they want to be if they put the work in themselves. It’s funny that a small-town girl from Irishtown in New Brunswick, Canada is here doing all that.”

Cycling across America is Willis’ quest  to inspire young people by bringing attention to the goals of her nonprofit and others like it.  

“Just to see the look in their eyes when they look at me, and the words of encouragement they give to me, and even with sharing their dreams, it motivates me that much more,” she said. “Even on the bike now when I’m training and I have questions, saying, ‘Jay, are you sure?’ I see my kids and hear the voice of the things they say to me. It gives me the extra energy boost.”

On the Net:

www.dreamchallengetour.com

#dreamchallengetour and #samsac

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