Benefits “Aurensen Road Sidewalk Project” and Senior Center “Older Adult Fitness Station”
The City of North Ridgeville recently received two mini-grants totaling over $60,000 from the Lorain County General Health District in support of the city’s initiative to increase physical fitness and healthy eating in the community.
The first grant, that will enhance the city’s “Safe Routes to School Program,” will help link existing and new homes with sidewalks for better access to the library, schools and South Central Park. Secondary sponsors of the project include the Lorain Public Library System/North Ridgeville Branch Library and North Ridgeville City Schools which will also benefit from the new sidewalks and additional accessibility to their buildings.
North Ridgeville Seniors, Inc., which supports the North Ridgeville Office for Older Adults (Senior Center), received the other grant. Now older adults will have easy access to workouts geared towards their physical abilities and needs from the “Older Adult Fitness Station,” which will be built right next to the Senior Center. Orthopaedic Associates and St. John Medical Center are secondary sponsors of the Fitness Station which also received support from North Ridgeville’s Heart & Sole initiative. These entities will all work together with the Senior Center to promote wellness and independence for local older adults through workouts emphasizing balance, stability and coordination. The Motion Wellness System to be installed is the first in Ohio.
“We are very pleased to receive both of these grants,” said Mayor David Gillock. “One of the top priorities of my Administration, working in coordination with North Ridgeville Heart & Sole, is to support all efforts of better health in our community. These grants certainly exemplify this endeavor.”
Both projects will begin later this year with the Fitness Station slated to be completed by mid-summer and the new sidewalks by August 31, 2016.