Yesterday, residents age 55 and older gathered at the Desire/Florida Multiservice Center to jump-start their summer with a focus on health and wellbeing. The Healthy Aging Summer Kickoff and Health Expo, hosted by Fit NOLA at NORD, offered a morning packed with fitness sessions, health education, and important screenings at no cost.
This community-centric event not only provided a space for engaging in physical activity but also an educational opportunity for attendees to learn about maintaining and improving their health as they age. Classes ranged from core and resistance training to more leisurely activities, such as beginner gardening and line dancing. After working up an appetite, participants enjoyed a nutritious lunch courtesy of GoodEats Catering.
As an initiative of the New Orleans Recreation Development (NORD) Commission, in collaboration with the City of New Orleans and local organizations, Fit NOLA's mission is to foster a healthier city landscape. The program aligns with the national Let’s Move! initiative and emphasizes the importance of active lifestyles and nutritional awareness for all New Orleanians.
Partners of the program include ANEW Fitness, who offered classes on mobility and resistance training; By Our Hands Wellness, which introduced participants to gardening; and KWL Steppers, who got people moving with beginner line dancing. Not to be missed, Footprints to Fitness addressed the need for cardio sculpting tailored to the senior population. In the realm of health education, Second Harvest provided valuable nutritional insights.
Also contributing to the robust health expo were a number of partners like CenterWell, Humana, WellAhead, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans Council on Aging, University Medical Center, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Louisiana, all bringing forth their resources to support the community's healthy aging endeavors.
