Nonprofit Gym Helps Low-Income Residents Get Fit

Boston facility sells low-cost memberships in poor neighborhood
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2010 5:21 PM CDT
Nonprofit Gym Helps Low-Income Residents Get Fit
A file photo of a personal trainer.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

One Boston fitness center believes that wealth shouldn't keep people from experiencing the benefits of exercise: Healthworks operates a nonprofit women-only gym in a low-income neighborhood. Residents are excited to be able to afford gym memberships, which are based on income and max out at $30 month. Some, like Tamica Toney, have used frequent visits to return from obesity to a healthy weight. "I was 252 pounds," Tamica tells NPR. "Now I am a total of 170 even."

"In middle-income communities, there's somehow an expectation that you're going to have access to gyms," one of the gym's organizers says. "When you're in a low-income community, that stuff doesn't exist." (More gym stories.)

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