Tulsa Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges is expanding
BY MIKE AVERILL World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 07, 2013
2/07/13 at 6:15 AM
The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges is expanding its hours and programming.
Starting next week, the center will be open three additional hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, until 8 p.m.
Executive Director Lori Long said a lot of the feedback the agency receives is that more employers are adapting workplaces to accommodate disabled people.
"That is a great thing. That's what we want," she said. "Our limited 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours are not accommodating those people that are working.
"That's the No. 1 population we're reaching out to."
The agency also is reaching out to people who live outside of the Tulsa LIFT program boundaries who rely on family members who work to get them to the center, as well as to disabled college students who have classes during the regular hours.
"We've routinely heard this for a number of years and knew this was a need," Long said. "We knew that was an area of growth that we wanted to look at."
To fund the expansion, the agency raised nearly $30,000.
The additional hours will be for the fitness center and other exercise programs.
The center, at 815 S. Utica Ave., offers additional nonfitness programming during its normal hours.
"We're really trying to approach this in a smart way," Long said.
"We're trying to look at the population and what kind of programing would they want from us, and we know that that's mostly a fitness kind of program, so that's what we're starting with."
She added that the agency would like to increase the extended-hours program eventually to include Saturday nights and hopes to add programming.
Besides the extended hours, four new classes are being offered: Muscle Mix, Happy Hour Yoga, Exercise for Everyone and Adaptive Cycling.
The agency received a $22,500 grant from the Olympic Opportunity Fund to buy eight adaptive cycles for the cycling class, which costs $35 for members.
"Basically what an adaptive bike does is it allows the opportunity for almost anybody with any type of a physical challenge to enjoy and get the benefits of a cycling program," Long said.
For more information, call 918-584-8607 or go online to tulsaworld.com/tulsacenter
Original Print Headline: Center for physically challenged is expanding
Mike Averill 918-581-8489
mike.averill@tulsaworld.com
