Richard Disalvo has been a member of the Northern Dauphin County Branch YMCA since March, 2015. 11 years ago, Richard was employed by the Harrisburg Hilton and at that time he was a member of the East Shore Branch YMCA. 10 years ago, Richard moved to Halifax, PA, where he currently resides. The impact that the YMCA has had on his life proves that the Harrisburg Area YMCA is MORE than a membership.
In January, 2015, Richard enrolled in the Freedom From Smoking Program conducted by the NDC YMCA at Aurora Social Rehabilitation on Division Street in Harrisburg, PA. Due to his declining health, Richard knew that it was time to quit smoking and he wanted to give it his best to quit and become healthy again. This was also part of his goals as a client of Aurora Social Rehabilitation. On February 17, 2015, Richard made a smoking quit attempt using the tools, resources and skills that he learned from the program. Richard is proud to announce that he still remains tobacco-free to this day. After quitting smoking and saying “Goodbye” to a negative behavior in his life, he wanted to replace it with a positive to continue his process of quitting, getting healthy and getting in shape.
In March, 2015, Richard came to the Northern Dauphin County YMCA to begin another positive lifestyle change. Richard reports that there is rarely a day that he is not at the NDC YMCA exercising in the Wellness Center and using the pool. Richard struggles with neuropathy and the pool allows him to be able to jog, in the water, which is helping him cope with this condition and the water takes a lot of pressure off of his body. He also enjoys lifting weights and exercising on the cardio equipment. Another concern that Richard explained was that his oxygen levels, in his body, were not at a healthy level. Due to quitting smoking and exercising almost every day, his oxygen level has climbed to a 98 (101 is excellent).
Richard is extremely happy about becoming healthy again spiritually, mentally and physically. He reports that the many positives so far have been that he feels healthy, he is eating better, sleeping better, has more endurance and of course his body oxygen levels are approaching the excellent mark. Richard commented on the friendly atmosphere at the YMCA and that he comes every day because he has met many new people and has made many friends that also give him exercise tips when he is here.
