Dec. 21—To help schedule classes and events, the Cleveland County Wellness Square has come out with a new app, now available to smartphone users.
The Cleveland County Board of Commissioners awarded The Well $900,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act in July, $6,000 of which has been used to develop The Well OK, an app now available on androids or iPhones.
Kate Cooper, director of community engagement at The Well, said the app was developed to make it easier for users to sign up for classes and view the organization's offerings.
"We have been using Eventbrite and we've been directing people to go to our website, but one of the things that we've learned in the last two years is that not everybody has a computer, and doing it on your phone can be kind of a pain," Cooper said.
She said physical fitness classes are always the most popular.
Some of The Well's most popular classes include Zumba, Yoga, bootcamp, Movement and Mindfulness, tai chi, and cardio kickboxing.
For those who can't come in-person, the app will also allow certain classes to be taught virtually.
"So even if you can't come to The Well, you can be anywhere, and it's still all free," Cooper said.
She said all classes offered by The Well are free, though the site partners with other organizations who may charge fees, especially for cooking classes or classes that require materials to be purchased.
"Our partner classes are the only ones that we charge for," she said.
Fitness class attendance has "skyrocketed," she said. "even to the point where we're having to add additional classes."
Currently, The Well offers three Zumba classes.
"We're trying to take away any barrier that would keep people from being well," Cooper said. "You don't even have to have a car to participate in some of our classes. You'll be able to get the same amount of education and quality of classes from your own home."
Melody Bays, The Well executive director, said she has been pursuing the development of an app since she joined the team in 2018.
"We've been asking for this since The Well opened. We wanted to make sure we had sufficient programming underway and it had been responsive to the community before we invested any more money on the tech side of things," Bays said.
The building is owned by the Cleveland County Health Department.
Cooper said users will be able to RSVP for classes through the app. It will also send out reminders.
"The app will also send them reminders about their bookings, which we haven't had the technology to do before," she said.