Photo Credit: Courtesy of Leslie Alford
At 53 years old, Jenine Worton, a Kansas City, Mo., resident, says she struggles with several health issues. “I have high blood pressure, back pain, I am pre-diabetic, [with] high cholesterol and thyroid issues,” she says. Her doctors wanted her to get healthy, but until LifeX, it was a challenge. “LifeX has motivated me to come here and tell others to come join me,” she says. “I don’t like to work out alone.”
Worton is one of 200 residents participating in LifeX, a partnership among Kansas City Parks and Recreation, Kansas City Health Department, and the Healthcare Foundation. The program is the city’s place-based approach to mobilizing residents living in six ZIP codes, where 94 percent of residents live below the federal poverty level and life-expectancy rates are on average 14.9 years less than other areas of the city. Participants receive a free annual community-center membership, access to healthy lifestyle and fitness classes, and leadership training in an exclusive program.
For 67-year-old retiree Lloyd Jones, the initiative has really helped him lose weight. “I am on a fixed income, and it’s a great thing for me to come up here,” he says. He tries to visit Southeast Community Center four times a week to work out.