'For Me, It's Him': Mokena Gym For Addicts A Tribute To Lost Brother

MOKENA, IL — Joe and Brian Leonard talked about everything.

The two brothers and Orland Park natives were just four years apart in age, but linked by a love of athletics—boxing, specifically—and a will to help others. Together, they often mulled ideas of how they could morph their two passions into a project that could have a lasting impact on others.

And then it hit them like a punch to a bag: a boxing gym.

Brian, who struggled with drug addiction for years, spent weeks in rehab and weekends with Joe. They'd box, and talk. And box, and talk. It was a comforting cycle for both, and Joe saw the relief it brought Brian.

"Boxing for him was a staple. A necessity," Joe Leonard said. "It was a needed thing."

Brian would readily return to rehab at the start of each week, yet held firm in his belief that boxing had been the key to his holding steady.

"One of the hardest things, is that first day when you’re out (of rehab)," he remembers Brian saying. "You are on your own, and you need to figure it out."

Despite his efforts at recovery, Brian died of a suspected overdose in March 2024; fentanyl was believed to be the substance used, though they still await official toxicology results. He was 38.

Still grieving his brother, Joe, his father Brian Sr., and his uncle Glenn have worked to bring Brian's dream to fruition, with the opening of BVL Boxing Solutions. A nonprofit gym geared toward addicts in recovery, it's nearing opening at 9620 W. Willow Lane, in Mokena.

"What we want with this program, was what we planned on in the beginning," Joe Leonard said. "To give somebody a safe space, a good community, a good area for people to go to, to be healthy, mentally, physically—and it all incorporates boxing."

'A family of helpers'

For 10 years, Brian volunteered as a mentor and coach at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls in Chicago, where he led disadvantaged youth in channeling their emotions and finding healing through exercise. Joe tagged along, but acknowledges it was mostly Brian.

"He was the main one at Mercy," he praised. "I always kind of stood back."

It was a common theme among their family, then.

"We’re a family of helpers, we’ve always been that way," Joe said. "Now we have an opportunity to be able to make an impact."

While fueled by their passion to help those in recovery, Brian Sr. stresses the facility will welcome whomever.

"It’s geared towards someone that’s coming out of rehab, or trying to recover and really just needs a safe place and a community kind of setting," he said. "Almost everybody experiences some darkness. It’s not ever going to be limited. We’re not going to quiz you on why you’re there.

"There’s so many things that people just need a community that’s safe, and they’re comfortable with."

Joe and Glenn—a boxing coach for two decades—have designed the program. It's simple, Brian Sr. said, but with varying levels of difficulty, Joe added.

The family has always been athletic—Brian Jr. was a three-sport athlete—and all have boxed.

Brian was attending Providence Catholic HS when his family moved out of state. He went on to continue playing sports at Lakeland College in Wisconsin. Ultimately, his athletic pursuits caught up with Brian Jr., causing wear and tear on his body that led to multiple surgeries later in his life. That's where the addiction crept in, Brian Sr. said.

"Being as athletic as he was, as you get older, you’re going to need surgery," he said. "It seems like the addiction part of it would pop up after every surgery. He’d go from the pain meds to something else.

"I imagine he was in and out of different things, to mask whatever pain he had."

Boxing seemed to center him, throughout the fight for recovery.

"He would keep my other son in there (the gym) for like two hours," Brian Sr. said. "It made him feel much better. Afterward, for the next day or two, he would feel great.

"It’s a very healthy tool."

That's what they're hoping to provide others who might be in a similar position as Brian.

The gym "is designed to be a ray of hope for those who are in need," the website reads. "It offers those who continue to struggle with addiction a place to continue the healing process in a safe, positive, motivational environment. While the focus is on those with addiction, it is also here for everyone who needs healing, friendship, or just a good workout. We all need healing."

It is entirely donation-based, and donations can be made online. Donations will help fund a gym specializing in boxing workouts, as well as memberships for recovering clients. The trainers will help and guide clients through basic to advanced workouts.

"We’re trying to build a community, where the guy will come back the second day," Brian Sr. said. "That’s what we’re trying to do."

They'll also offer meeting space for groups like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, to encourage open and honest dialogue coupled with exercise.

"We tried to think outside the box to make it more enjoyable," Brian Sr. said, "and continue to try to build the community aspect of it."

"Everybody’s who on staff has been through this already, or has a sibling or something that is going through it right now. We’re all well-versed in what’s going on."

It all carries deep significance for Joe, even down to the space they found to house it: a former gym.

"This space just kind of found itself for us," Joe said. "I can’t explain it. It’s everything."

The timing is serendipitous, too—Saturday, Jan. 11 marks 10 months and 1 day since they thought up the idea of a gym. They hope to open by Jan. 15, but all updates on opening will be made via social media. You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and X for the latest. An open house will be held Saturday, Jan. 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Leonard shared on social media.

"It’s been everything to me," Joe said. "There’s so much meaning and power, and everything behind it. When you’re building a business, you have to do a lot of research, a lot of end work. How I know this is going to be successful—is not only because of how many people are already wanting to get into the gym—but the factor of having a lot of these things just fall into place."

Seeing Brian's name attached to a gym designed around something that meant so much to him is momentous.

"For me, it’s him," Joe said. "Whenever you think boxing, you always thought Brian. That’s just what it was. Having a gym with his name on it, the meaning behind it, the purpose to build a better community, make a positive impact.

"This is everything he would have wanted."

BVL Boxing Solutions NFP is located at 9620 Willow Lane in Mokena. They can be reached at BVLBoxingsolutions@gmail.com. Check their website for more.