At Stronghold Christian Church, you’re just as likely to see fitness buffs as you are worshipers.
The Lithonia church hosts at least four fitness classes a week to promote health and wellness. It is also a part of DeKalb County’s larger initiative to address health disparities among African-Americans.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the DeKalb County Health Board a REACH grant, worth $792,000 for the next five years, to reduce the level of chronic disease among blacks in the county.
The county was first awarded the REACH grant in 2014, allowing them to partner with local organizations that could provide health and fitness opportunities for free or at a low cost, DeKalb health board community liaison Kelly Clay said.
Part of that work is focused in neighborhoods where at least 20 percent of the population is below the poverty threshold. African-Americans make up at least 20 percent of these areas and are about 69 percent of the population in DeKalb, Clay said.
“We want to strengthen our partnership in the community,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a phone interview. “We just want to make sure we’re providing the best resources to the community and that people are aware of them.”
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Stronghold Christian Church was one of the first organizations to partner with DeKalb for residents in Lithonia, a city where African-Americans comprise 91.8 percent of the population and has 16.1 percent of its residents living under the poverty threshold.
“We’re not your average gym where you take a class and leave,” fitness instructor Donna Jones told The AJC in a phone interview. The program, which began in 2016, has seen success stories.
Jones said in one participant’s case, the workouts saved her life.
“There was one woman who suffered a mild stroke,” Jones said. “The doctors said had she not been working out, it could’ve been a different story.”
Cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in the county, according to the DeKalb board of health. Clay is hoping similar programs like the one at Stronghold Christian Church will curb the health issues African-Americans in the county face.
“We wanted to open (community partners’) doors and make themselves accessible to community in which they serve,” Clay said.
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