Wellness Center Proposed for Stanford and Surrounding Community

— Powell Becker, Doreen Caquelin, Amanda Grove, Matt Neumann And Ollie Urick
Basin Wellness Center, Inc. is a group of local Judith Basin County residents who believe that the people of Judith Basin County and surrounding areas would benefit enormously if they had easier access to a wellness center.

This fledgling group of individuals has listened to the people of Judith Basin County who would like to see a wellness center, and we have decided to run with the idea. The group is pursuing the building and operation of “Basin Wellness Center” in Stanford, Montana.

Survey Results
To test the waters for the idea, we sent out a county-wide (and beyond) survey in November 2018. The results were enthusiastic and promising, and indicated a desire for many types of service for the Center, with these being the top five: Group Exercise, Healthcare (including Physical Therapy, Massage, Primary Care and Chiropractic), Weight Room, Pool, and a Walking/Running Track.

This survey also showed that you were most concerned with improving your health, especially in the areas of heart disease, joint pain, diabetes, obesity, and osteoarthritis.

Proposed facility
Our public facility would ideally include exercise equipment, a walking/running track, gym space (for sports and group fitness classes), a climbing wall,a meeting room for educational development, healthcare services (physical therapy, possible massage/chiropractic, and a space for visiting primary care providers), and potentially an indoor pool, if funding provides.

Additionally, the schools in our area would benefit greatly from the Center, as it will provide a variety of additional resources for fitness and athletics. The national childhood obesity rate is 18.5%, 37.7% of U.S. adults are obese, 49% of Americans have at least one of these three risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking), and 30% of United Stated adults do not engage in leisure time physical activity.

With the Wellness Center, when the gym is full, there will be another location to utilize. Children, and adults, will no longer have to go through a process to gain access to a fitness facility. By making these services readily available, we hope to promote the health and wellbeing of everyone across Central Montana.

How to help
We need your help in making this dream a reality. We have begun the grant-seeking process and are in need of funds to pay for grant writing, provide matching contributions where required if we are awarded grant funds, and explore the architectural and engineering aspects of the project.

If you feel equally strong that there is a need for a Wellness Center in our area, please help by contributing to the PayPal Giving Fund account or to the account we have set up at Stockman Bank. You may also contact any of us if you have questions about the plans. Basin Wellness Center, Inc. is a non-profit organization that has been approved for 501(c)(3) status by the IRS.

We appreciate your generosity and support – every little bit helps. Please spread the word and follow our journey on our Basin Wellness Center Facebook page.