Robert Conte Foundation for Parkinsons Disease and Movement DI

In 2021 we returned to live classes after 13 months online due to the Pandemic. By May we had 28 PD fighters on a regular basis. We added 13 new fighters bringing the total number served to 41. We estimate that 85% attend classes 3 times per week for 50 weeks for a total of 5100 hours of fitness instruction. We introduced Yoga for PD with an average class attendance of 16 for a total of 576 hours of yoga instruction. We partnered with Texas A&M University allowing 30 Kinesiology students to interface with our PD fighters to complete their course curriculum. We introduced "Brain Games," a once-per-week class with an average of 10 fighters per class. We hosted a monthly support group meeting and potluck dinner for families living with PD in our community.

Our outreach in the Parkinsons community continued to expand. Twenty-seven new PD fighters were referred to our nonprofit by neurologists in 2024. These individuals joined our other participants in weekly exercise sessions. We extended our hours of operation offering PD classes five days per week. Through our partnership with Texas A&M students and faculty students presented data collected when using our gym as an academic learning lab. Most of these students plan to seek doctorate degrees in Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy. Several new experiences were well-received by our PD fighters including Pilates for PD Archery for PD and Ping Pong for PD. Our mission is to raise community awareness and offer resources for those living with PD. We cannot cure the disease but we are improving the quality of life for many families throughout the five-county region we serve.