Vicki & Frank Heckl

40 Faces of the J

#1 Vicki & Frank Heckl

Members for 5 Years

"If you ask me for the one word that describes what the JCC is to me and my family, I'd have to say 'LIFECHANGING'!"

"Vicki, my wife of 46 years was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson disease in 2020. In mid 2021, she fell and broke her hip and shoulder and after surgery, we moved to Charlotte to be near family.

We are within a stone's throw of our four grandchildren and only one song on my playlist away from the J.

We soon learned that RockSteady, a boxing and exercise program that has been shown to slow the progression of Parkinson disease, was at the JCC! Suzanne Diorio evaluated Vicki and she was soon welcomed into a community of fellow "parkies" who are "fighting back" with a proven exercise routine!

We joined the JCC and I was able to find a group of morning masters swimmers and used the gym while Vicki boxed in the afternoon.

We found a weekly Parkinson disease yoga group at the JCC and started Foundation Training on Friday from John Lynam.

Our daughter's family are JCC members and the grandchildren splash away in the pool all summer!

Remarkably, our oldest daughter who lives in Hawaii, after experiencing the RockSteady program, the yoga and Foundation Training with her mother and working out in the gym was so inspired by the positivity that permeates the JCC that at 42, she retired from the business she had built and transformed herself into a certified personal trainer and began the only RockSteady program on the Big Island!

So, if you ask me for the one word that describes what the JCC is to me and my family, I'd have to say 'LIFECHANGING'!"

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