GREENDALE, Mo. -- At 71, Ora Wilcox has one bad knee, a total knee replacement and "a lot of weight to lose." So she rises every morning to lead a walk with her neighbors in the small municipality of Greendale.

She's looking for better health, a more active life and greater familiarity with neighbors she didn't know.

The town in St. Louis County recently was awarded an $8,080 state grant that pays for dance aerobics classes at a local Jazzercise center and cookbooks with heart-healthy, diabetic-friendly or vegetarian recipes for each household.

Together, the town's 722 residents plan to burn some flab, strengthen their muscles and develop healthier eating habits. But there's an added benefit: they're growing closer as a community.

"We have a man on a cane who walks every day," Mayor Monica Huddleston said. "We have others who never participated in anything. It's brought people out. This is neat. It touches everybody's nerve, that encouragement cell in their brain."

Greendale is a bedroom community of middle-income, single-family homes in the far northern reaches of St. Louis County, near the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus.

The community is 60 percent black, qualifying it for the state grant targeted specifically to minorities. But community leaders are quick to point out the program is for everyone, regardless of race.

Twenty-five percent of residents are seniors, 25 percent are 20 years old and younger. The remaining 50 percent "are somewhere in between," Huddleston said.

Alderwoman Chandra Coughley said she learned from a friend about the grant offered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that is designed to prevent and reduce obesity in minority communities. She applied in late March and got the news it had been awarded to Greendale on May 8. She and other community organizers scrambled to put the program together.

Monthly discussions

Townspeople may participate in group walks, morning and evening, or attend three weekly dance aerobics classes for a year at a Jazzercise fitness center run by Greendale resident Laurinette Bowers.

In addition, once a month, the 37-year-old Bowers will meet with residents at City Hall, to discuss their diet and encourage them to keep exercising --and to weigh them to monitor progress for their goals. Participants also are entitled to a free Jazzercise workout -- one Saturday a month -- in the city's new outdoor pavilion, a present the city gave itself for its 55th birthday.

Coughley, who sees the grant program as a great opportunity, said some of those participating have surprised her. "I'm still smiling when I hear reports of people going to class or saying, 'I'm going to start walking.' That is a plus."

Bowers said her dance aerobics classes are good for the "mind, body and soul" and help participants lose weight, strengthen their bodies, reduce stress and "feel good all over."

She said people who had never stepped inside an aerobics studio have gotten over their initial discomfort and discovered they fit in, "no matter what their level" of fitness.

"They adapt to it, even the shy ones," she said.

Joy Williams, chief of the state's Office of Minority Health, said the grant is designed to encourage communities to increase their physical activity and develop healthier eating patterns that will reduce obesity.

The St. Louis County Health Department won a similar grant for schools. The St. Louis Area on Aging won a grant to help seniors manage weight and diabetes. The city of Kansas City won a grant to offer obesity prevention programs in churches and other religious settings.

"The rate of obesity in minority populations is extremely high," Williams said. "We're hoping this effort will begin to address the problem and prevent other diseases."