Active Living Program News
Spotlight on the Active for Life Center of the National Capital Region
“The genius of the authors of the Active Living Every Day course book and the enthusiasm and caring of our group facilitation team” spell success for the Active for Life Center of the National Capital Region in the Maryland-Virginia-Washington, DC, triangle. The center has offered the Active Living Every Day course to almost 350 participants in 2005. Sixteen community partners—senior and community centers, senior residence complexes, and hospitals—offer space and promotional support for the course.
The Active for Life Center received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2003. They were one of five grantees selected to offer Active Living Every Day to adults age 50 and older. The Active for Life Center has presented the program to more than 650 participants. They work with a comprehensive coalition of public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations, agencies, and institutes.
Founding center director Dr. Sharlene Hirsch describes program participation as multicultural and nondenominational. “Active Living Every Day addresses the diverse needs of our participants. The flexibility of the program offers something for everyone— ranging from those individuals who have never been physically active to lapsed athletes and dropouts from health clubs and exercise classes who need the behavioral skills necessary to make physical activity a habit.”
Active Living Every Day is offered free of charge to center participants during the grant period. The program will continue once the grant expires at the end of December 2006, but it will be priced to cover the center’s costs. Dr. Hirsch explains, “The Active for Life Center and its community partners are deeply committed to the continuation of Active Living Every Day because it has already changed and improved so many lives.”
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