2 friends help community soar to new heights
At the Homewood-Brushton YMCA on Bennett Street, members can find activities from exercise to recording music.
And thanks to a pair of friends named Robert Travis and Roderick Ramsey, they can earn certification as a drone operator.
Travis and Ramsey co-founded Cloud Collective Media Productions, a company that creates drone video content for various industries — such as construction, architecture and real estate. Their affinity for drones was an experience the two shared together, and Travis said he'll never forget the first time they powered up their first drone, which they named "Quantum."
"We fired it up in Rod's living room, and that drone took off. And we were smitten right then and there," he said. "We didn't know what we were going to do, but we knew our future involved drones."
What started as a hobby and a passion became a business opportunity for the two, but they didn't stop there. They wanted to share their passion for drone operation with others in their community who didn't have the same opportunity.
"We could put drones in front of kids' faces that don't typically have access to this technology," said Ramsey. "How could we shift their reality? How could we shift their perspective?"
Ramsey said he wrote a grant proposal that he sent out to potential sponsors. The first to respond was 1Hood Media. Soon after, other dedicated sponsors like Neighborhood Allies, Duolingo and Pittsburgh Public Schools got on board, and their teaching platform became known as Flight Club.
"They piloted our first program. And from there, we were able to build out the fleet of drones we have here today," Ramsey said. "We're a conduit for their funding, and we get it back out to the community."
They began by taking the program around to after-school programs in communities around the region, looking for interested students who might want to learn how to pilot drones. They learned two things about the program very quickly.
"One, students were very interested," Travis said. "We learned that our program was unique and dynamic, and everywhere we went, the kids were beating down our proverbial door to get signed up and partake in our drone program. The second thing we noticed was the interest in the adults."
That interest forced Travis and Ramsey to find a space where they could teach classes for both children and adults. They eventually found it at the Homewood YMCA, with an administrator who became excited about the program quickly.
"I think back on our first meeting when we had this vision of: what would it look like and feel like for Cloud Collective to be hosted here in the Y?" said STEAM program director Zena Ruiz. "What would it look like to host drone races in the gym? That was a seed of an idea, and we made it happen. They made it happen. I feel like we put our intentions into that space, and it's exciting."
Ruiz not only allowed them to host the program, but she even became a student herself.
"I felt at home, given that flying and being a drone pilot ... wasn't in my imagination," Ruiz said. "But it was here, and my students were doing it, and I was hosting them in my space — in the after-school space, and if my students are doing it, I gotta try it, too."
Flight Club now hosts classes four days a week for adults and teens 13 and older. They are free to YMCA members, and non-members have to pay a fee to register. Through these courses, students can receive their "TRUST" certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. They will soon add a course to eventually teach students how to receive their Part 107 certification as an FAA-licensed drone operator.
"Come on Tuesdays," Ruiz said when asked what she would tell anyone interested in Flight Club. "Come on Tuesdays, get certified, see what it's like. Meet Rod and Rob. I think the heart of the program is them, is the people. It's the people behind the program, the people on the ground facilitating that."
But Ramsey said it's the opportunity to take to the air that makes the program special for the children who come to the program, despite the negative attention that is often given to an area like Homewood-Brushton.
"When you get them 300 feet up in the air, and they're cruising around, they forget about a lot of the BS and the problems and the drama that's going on down on the ground," Ramsey said. "So, we try and elevate perspectives in everything."
