*****Author’s Note: The following post was published on July 15, 2018 and has not been updated since its initial publication. As this post was written as part of a bigger, older project that has already ended, I do not intend on updating this post with new information about the organizations featured in it. This means some or all of the information in this or other posts in this series may be outdated by the time you read this post.
If you need the latest information on these organizations, it is your responsibility to conduct that research on your own. These posts can be used as a jumping off point for that research, but it is still your responsibility to look up these organizations on your own to verify whether or not their services still exist or will actually work for your needs.
***This blog post is part of a weekly series titled #SignalBoostSunday. This series will highlight organizations and social causes that are of importance and provide assistance to the Greater Atlanta area. ***
This week, on #SignalBoostSunday, we’re focusing on three metro Atlanta nonprofit organizations that provide physical fitness programs for their communities.
One initiative serves community members who are visually impaired and blind. Another focuses on assisting those in our community who suffer from paralysis through exercise. And the last one hosts free fitness programming for all in one of Atlanta’s beautiful parks.
1.) Angel Eyes Fitness and Nutrition
Founded by fitness instructor, personal trainer and nutritional coach Dawn Wells, this Conyers, Georgia nonprofit develops fitness and nutrition programming for blind and visually impaired persons.
Angel Eyes Fitness and Nutrition currently offers 8 fitness programs including a 7-week fitness camp. Other notable programs are: Belly Dance Fitness, a Pilates class and a program called Sight Unseen Dance Fitness – which involves “simplified movement to fun, upbeat rhythms.”
Angel Eyes also offers 4 nutrition programs. Unique among these programs is their Blood-Type Based Customized Meal Plans, in which participants learn about foods that are best for certain blood types to optimize fitness goals such as weight loss.
2.) NextStep Atlanta
Located in Alpharetta, Georgia and founded in 2011, NextStep Atlanta is a nonprofit that works to improve the quality of life for those suffering from paralysis via exercise programs.
Some of the programs offered include: guided exercise, locomotor training, and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES).
Locomotor training helps NextStep Atlanta’s clients practice standing and walking by having them held in a harness over a treadmill while therapists guide the clients’ legs in a walking/stepping motion.
FES is the application of mild electrical pulses to paralyzed muscles to improve the functioning of those muscles. At NextStep Atlanta, FES is done with special bikes with electrodes that provide the electrical stimulation as the client cycles with their legs or arms.
Piedmont Park offers two free, monthly fitness programs: Yoga on the Promenade and a Free Group Fitness event.
Yoga on the Promenade is hosted on the fourth Monday of every month at 7:00 pm. The next one is on July 23.
The Free Group Fitness event occurs on the first Friday of every month. It is hosted by November Project Atlanta. Participants are expected to meet up at 6:27 am on the steps of the Historic Visitors’ Center.
Anita M. George: Journalist, Writer 