Watching Rachelle Alexandre compete at the USA Powerlifting Ladies of Iron competition, Coach Laurie Maranian was overjoyed: Rachelle was squatting over 400 pounds and deadlifting nearly 400 pounds, far exceeding the goals she’d set upon first joining Urban PowerHouse — which was all the more astounding since Rachelle had given birth to her second child only eight months prior.
“Rachelle originally came to Urban PowerHouse with general health goals,” Laurie explains. “But soon after, she became pregnant and wanted to focus on having a healthier pregnancy than her first. Well, we smashed that out of the park! Her energy and confidence were way up, and she kept working out well into her third trimester. When Rachelle sets her mind to things, she does them. She had decided to enter her first powerlifting competition shortly after giving birth, and even postpartum recovery wouldn’t stop her.”
“Urban Powerhouse became my anchor during one of the most transformative chapters of my life — motherhood,” says Rachelle. “It’s where I found pieces of myself I thought I’d lost (or didn’t even know I had), pushed past limits, reclaimed my strength, and redefined what it means to show up for myself. In the chaos of motherhood, this space became my sanctuary.”
Laurie cofounded Urban PowerHouse (UPH) with partner Joseph Stephen in 2019, but their vision began in 2015. The two had known each other for many years, reconnecting after college to become friends and eventually life partners as well.
As a former competitive dancer, Laurie faced a lifetime of body image challenges. “I was running for a while in an effort to lose weight,” Laurie recalls, “but then Joseph showed me strength training, and I realized, oh wow, you can actually enjoy exercise. Later, I went to his sister’s powerlifting competition and was amazed by how inclusive it was: not everyone looked the same.”
“At that time, there were no powerlifting facilities in Boston,” she continues. “Sometimes a group of us would go out to a gym in Western Mass, but it took a whole day and was expensive. And I’ll never forget the first time we went, and Joseph and the other men with me stopped at the door of the gym and said, ‘you go in first,’ because they were concerned about entering together as men of color into an environment that was predominantly white.”
“There have been so many times in my life when I’ve felt I just didn’t belong,” Joseph says. “So I wanted to create an inclusive space where we could support people on their health and wellness journeys. Laurie and I were thinking of opening a personal training studio and almost bought one. But it didn’t work out, and that was probably fate, because then we decided to narrow our focus to strength sports, including powerlifting and weightlifting, as the modalities to help others.”
In December 2019, Urban PowerHouse got their 501(c)(3) nonprofit certification, but three months later, Covid shut down the commercial gym where they trained.
“There was a silver lining, however,” Joseph adds. “Everyone was working out with their free time, and companies were being charitable. We rented a 250-square-foot storage space where we could train with the seven athletes we were coaching at the time. Training gear company A7 created and sold a custom shirt collab, donating all the proceeds to us, and other companies were supportive as well.”
Joseph and Laurie both had prior nonprofit experience, and Laurie still works full-time at another nonprofit while serving as a coach and VP of Development at UPH after-hours. Joe serves as part-time Executive Director and Head Coach. Both continue to add strength-sports skills to their résumés. Laurie became a Precision Nutrition Level One Coach, and Joe got a second bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Health Science and is now working towards a Physician Assistant degree with a doctorate.
And since receiving their first grant from The Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF) this year, Joseph and Laurie have been quick to take advantage of all the grantee webinars and other learning opportunities they can. “We’re working with consultant Rana Kannan right now, through the LZF Catalytic Consulting program,” Laurie says, “And she’s helping us construct a logic model and also define the data we want to collect, both qualitative and quantitative.”
So far, that data is quite impressive. Since inception, UPH has logged more than 250 unique visitors and 1,000 community event attendees. UPH athletes have participated in at least 60 sanctioned competitions, with 19 first-place wins. Just over half of the athletes receive financial assistance for individualized coaching. In 2021, UPH created a 3,000-square-foot gym out of an unused basement space in a local Hyde Park business with an app that allows access to the facility when it’s unstaffed. Gym membership is $50 per month for adults and $20 per month for students.
“We started out as an adult program, but the youth came knocking at our door,” Laurie says. “Everyone needs a place to go and a community to belong to. With all ages working out together, we have an organic, intergenerational mentorship happening at the gym.”
Urban PowerHouse now offers free summer memberships for up to 25 high school students. What’s more, this past summer, a City of Boston youth workforce program allowed them to employ a team of five youth workers, ages 14 to 18, with two supervisors, aged 19 to 24. The teens helped with upkeep and ensured that everyone felt welcome and knew how to navigate the gym environment safely. Working with Laurie and Coach Marcus Brown, they also ran a new six-week program called “High School Summer Slam” and helped to provide free breakfast and lunch six days a week.
“We knew we had some food-insecure individuals in the space,” Laurie explains. “So Joseph found a federally funded program through the Greater Boston YMCA that delivers meals to us, three days a week, from a Black-owned vendor called City Fresh Foods.”
Avery Covitz was part of the 2025 summer workforce team, having originally joined UPH with her father in 2021. “Avery is a two-time silver medalist at USA Powerlifting Nationals and holds the squat record in Massachusetts in multiple age and weight classes,” Laurie says. “This past spring, she did her senior project on powerlifting, and she’s going to continue powerlifting as a freshman at Rutgers University this fall. Avery’s parents, who are tremendous members of our community, have thanked us for giving Avery skills she can use for the rest of her life and inspiring her to let her self-confidence shine. Now Avery is learning how to coach and giving back to this community that has meant so much to her.”
As Avery’s mother, Jessica Covitz, wrote in a letter to a UPH funder last year: “Urban PowerHouse offers every individual who walks through their door a welcoming, inclusive environment, meeting each person at where they are at in their wellness journey. Members and athletes are accomplishing their personal health and wellness goals, stepping outside of their comfort zones, and becoming stronger on the inside and out.”
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Current needs at Urban PowerHouse include funding/donations and a volunteer to help manage bookkeeping. If you’d like to help, please contact Laurie Maranian at teamurbanpowerhouse@gmail.com.