Movement to Delay Retirement community makes efforts against Parkinson’s disease By Brandon Klein
M
ore than four years ago, when Jessie Ritter started working at the Dublin Retirement Village as the program coordinator, she noticed that many residents with Parkinson’s disease had needs that were not being met. “We didn’t have anything at the time,” Ritter says. So, she reached out to the Parkinson’s Foundation Great Lakes chapter and soon got involved with the organization’s Moving Day Columbus event. Her involvement grew, and through the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Dublin Retirement Village began to offer free exercise classes to residents and older adults throughout central Ohio. “I feel like it has made a huge impact,” Ritter says. Moving Day History Since its inaugural year in 2012, Moving Day Columbus has raised more than $1.2 million for the Parkinson’s Foundation and is now one of 45 cities with such an event. “In the last 10 years, Moving Day has united more than 150,000 people in the fight against Parkinson’s disease and has raised more than $30 million to fund cutting-edge research and community programs,” says John L. Lehr, the president and CEO of the Parkinson’s Foundation.
Dublin Retirement Village's Rock Steady Boxing class
Moving Day Columbus started at the Historic Crew Stadium before moving to Wolfe Park on the east side of Columbus. In the fight against Parkinson's disease, the event features an annual fundraising walk, a children’s area, a caregivers’ relaxation station and a special Movement Pavilion, which features yoga, dance, tai chi, Pilates and other exercises. “We have learned over the years that exercise is really the best medicine to combat the disease, delay the disease,” says Lori Gum, the development director for the foundation’s Great Lakes chapter. Ritter Runs the Movement Ritter has run the event’s Movement Pavilion for the last three years. She leads a different exercise every 30 minutes for the hundreds of people who attend each year. “We get going with all the music,” Ritter says. “It’s all about getting your heart rate up.”
28 • August/September 2021
Grim Statistics Nearly one million people in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease, which has no cure. That’s more than the number of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and ALS disease combined. With 60,000 Americans diagnosed with Parkinson’s each year, the number is expected to climb to 1.2 million by 2030. Free Classes Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ritter hosted free exercise classes for those with Parkinson’s four days a week. The classes focused on hand-eye coordination, speech and other parts of the body the disease typically affects. Ritter’s classes served 10 residents from the retirement community’s independent www.dublinlifemagazine.com
