Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced that the City of New Orleans has received a $700,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to continue support community health and wellness. This grant will specifically fund a partnership between the City of New Orleans Health Department’s FIT NOLA initiative, the New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC), the New Orleans Recreation Development Foundation, Market Umbrella, Louisiana Public Health Institute and community wellness programs through 2018. The “FIT NOLA Live Well” program will improve health outcomes for vulnerable families by connecting them with free fitness programming at NORDC parks and with local farmers markets where they can receive vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables.
This grant builds upon lessons learned from an innovative three-year pilot that relied on community clinic doctors dispensing “prescriptions” that could be redeemed at farmers markets for fresh fruit and vegetables and “prescriptions” that could be redeemed at NORDC Fit NOLA Parks for free fitness classes.
Community wellness programs at clinics and other sites will refer patients in disease management groups to Fit NOLA Live Well. Participants will get a NORDC key card that will be their portal to fun, free, fitness activities at 12 NORDC recreation centers, 12 summer and three year-round pools, as well as several playgrounds. They will also have the opportunity to acquire fresh fruits and vegetables at six farmers markets across the City, which will benefit the children and other members of patients’ household.
Since 2010, the City of New Orleans has invested $160 million to refurbish or replace recreation centers, swimming pools, playing fields and playgrounds.