A new community wellness program called 100 Fit Females has recently been introduced into the Kinston Community Health Center.
Since Feb. 22, women in Lenoir and a few surrounding counties have been encouraged to register for the free program that will offer virtual wellness classes for women of all ages and ability levels.
Classes include cardio, chair exercise, dance, mindfulness, life coaching, strength and yoga. The goal of this program is to empower women to use mindfulness and movement as a tool for disease prevention and management, according to Anna Kinsey, director of the Kinston Community Health Center’s Patient Community Development and Patient Support Programs.
The program was the idea of Jelyse Dawson, owner of Fusion Fitness in Raleigh who received a $10,000 grant for fitness from HBCUvc .
The sponsors of the program are Fusion Fitness by Jelyse, Train Them Up for Success in partnership with the Kinston Community Health Center.
Currently, there are 93 women in the 22-77 age range signed up for the program in nine different cities in North Carolina with the eventual goal to cap it a 100, but as it is a pilot program it will focus mainly on Lenoir County, Jelyse Dawson explained.
She said the cities involved so far are Kinston, Goldsboro, Greenville, La Grange, Mount Olive, Winterville, Ayden, Hookerton and Grifton.
“So many other community health centers across North Carolina have reached out and said, ‘hey, can we be a part of the pilot?’ But we are keeping this strictly for Lenoir County,” Dawson said.
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She said that members of the Kinston Community Health Center and ECU interns did canvassing and marketing to promote the platform, so women from other towns – including those who live outside of Lenoir were allowed to participate.
Dawson said the response to 100 Fit Females has been very enthusiastic so far.
The classes are held virtually via Zoom and can be watched on a tablet, laptop, desktop computer or smartphone. Dawson said she decided to develop this program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will also be able to receive videos that they can watch from home, Kinsey said.
“I think during the pandemic my business changed. I went from working with youth, corporate employees, medical patients, senior citizens, and then during the pandemic I started focusing on women, and particularly women that were 50 and up that had pre-existing health conditions. So, when I got the grant, I knew I could reach women in those different areas,” said Dawson.
She said that of her clients 35% have high blood pressure, 37% joint pain, and diabetes afflicts 17%. The program also targets mental health goals for improvement of energy, sleep improvement, stress relief, mood and self-confidence. On the physical side, the goals are weight loss, strength, flexibility, heart health and lowering of blood pressure.
Her teaching staff, who use their first names, include Ron, certified personal trainer, Ritika, dance instructor, Linda, certified life coach and Deidra, board-certified physical therapist. Lenoir County residents can register at kinstonhealth.org. If you are outside of the area, visit fusionfitnessbyjelyse.com/100fitfemales to register.
You may contact Jelyse at 919-584-5574 if you have any questions about the program.

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