The Team Behind Bull City Fit: Growing Together as a Community
By: Matt Skinner, MS – Bull City Fit Coordinator
At Bull City Fit, every session is about more than physical activity. It is about creating a welcoming space where children, teens, and families can move, learn, connect, and build healthy habits together.
Bull City Fit is a free, community-based wellness program in Durham that offers evening and weekend activity sessions for Duke Healthy Lifestyles patients and their families. The program partners with Durham Parks and Recreation to provide a safe, fun environment where families can practice healthy lifestyle changes together.
As Bull City Fit Coordinator, one of the greatest privileges of my work is helping create that environment. Each session depends on a team of volunteers, students, medical trainees, and program staff who show up with energy, compassion, and a shared commitment to supporting families. Our team helps lead activities, welcome participants, encourage children, support parents, and make sure each program session feels safe, organized, inclusive, and fun.
Bull City Fit is designed for the whole family, not just one child. Families are encouraged to be active together, and the program serves children ages 5 to 18 along with their family members. That family-centered approach is one of the things that makes this program so special. When families move together, cook together, try something new together, or simply cheer each other on, healthy change feels more possible.
Our mission is rooted in wellness through an encouraging, inclusive, and active environment that fosters friendships, peer support, individual accountability, self-confidence, and the belief that anyone can work toward a healthy lifestyle. That mission guides how we lead activities, how we welcome new families, and how we train the volunteers and students who support the program.
One of my favorite parts of this work is watching our volunteers and trainees grow. Many are students preparing for careers in medicine, public health, physical therapy, nutrition, education, or community service. At Bull City Fit, they learn that health care does not only happen in an exam room. It also happens on a basketball court, in a cooking class, during a group activity, in a garden, or in a conversation with a family that feels seen and supported.
I take great pride in mentoring these students and volunteers as they build confidence, strengthen communication skills, and learn how to serve families with respect and empathy. I especially enjoy writing letters of recommendation, hearing about their next steps, and celebrating their successes as they move forward in their own careers. Their growth is part of Bull City Fit’s impact too.
For families, this means you are surrounded by a team that truly wants to be here. Our volunteers and trainees are learning from you just as much as they are supporting you. They see your effort, your consistency, your courage, and your commitment to your child’s health. Every time you show up, you are helping shape future health professionals who better understand the importance of community, encouragement, and family-centered care.
Through Duke Children’s Healthy Lifestyles, families receive support from experts in medicine, nutrition, exercise, and behavior, with a focus on practical ways to eat healthier and become more active. Bull City Fit extends that support into the community through fun activities, peer support, and opportunities for families to practice healthy habits together.
Activities may include sports, fitness instruction, swimming, dance, cooking classes, gardening, and support groups, giving families different ways to participate based on their interests, comfort level, and goals. Bull City Fit also provides online workout and cooking videos so families can continue building healthy routines at home.
At the heart of Bull City Fit is a simple belief: families deserve support, encouragement, and access to spaces where healthy living feels achievable.
Whether your family is attending for the first time or has been part of Bull City Fit for years, we are glad you are here. Every session is an opportunity to move, connect, learn, laugh, and grow together.
And behind every session is a team that is growing too.
That is the power of Bull City Fit: families, volunteers, students, and staff all moving forward together.
