SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A nonprofit in Hampton Roads is helping people create a healthier lifestyle change for free through the T2 Fresh Start Initiative.
The 12-week program aims to assist individuals living in underprivileged communities in adopting a healthier lifestyle and managing chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
“We wanted everybody to have the chance to be able to improve their health regardless of their environment or their income level,” said Tasha Turnbull, T2 Fresh Start Initiative founder and director.
T2 Fresh Start uses health assessments from around the area to find high rates of chronic diseases in people who need assistance.
“We look to provide sites in those cities where they are a little lower income so that they can be easily accessible to people who might need them the most, or might struggle with them,” Turnbull said.
One of the 12-week groups meets at the East Suffolk Recreation Center. Turnbull sees the changes from the beginning of the classes to now.
“Their physical endurance has improved — their energy level, their confidence, and their emotional regulation have been helpful,” Turnbull said. “They are just in a better mood.”
The program helps 30 people. LaVonyia Mitchell is a part of this cohort and said this program has changed her lifestyle.
“We all struggle, and regardless of what a person’s size is,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t dictate what their health concerns are or what their healthy situations are. So it allowed me to share and kind of focus, and like direct, certain areas of my body.”
It is not just workout classes, cooking classes, life coaching, food-based mental health group therapy, and more.
“Something of this nature could be very costly,” Turnbull said. “But as the T2 fitness foundation, we really wanted to help people understand what tools they have inside of them and what they can learn to help them.”
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