SALT LAKE CITY — Three days a week in front of Salt Lake City’s Downtown Public Library and Public Safety Building, you’ll find a free tai chi class run by a local retired couple, Bernie and Marita Hart.
Their downtown wellness program for transient people dealing with mental health issues has been a free resource for almost 10 years.
FOX 13 News digital reporter Shanti Lerner produced a story on their program last year to learn about its benefits. We decided to do a follow-up to see how the program has been going.
“The same people keep coming back over and over again is the biggest thing, and I've seen that, and that's why I believe in Bernie's idea,” Marita shared.
The Harts, previously ski teachers, developed the program 16 years ago to address people's fears while learning how to ski. Tai chi became a vehicle for that.
Breathing, being present, balance, and routine are key elements of their program.
“[The program] got people to a place where they could go from being afraid to smiling and feeling good about themselves in situations that were previously very challenging for them," Bernie said.
According to Marita, participation has been consistent, and improvements are noticeable in repeating tai chi participants.
“They are good at remembering the whole tai chi program, even if you're having trouble,” Marita said. “They still do it, and they come on time now. And some of them have jobs and some are asking to return to school.”
The class usually meets at the Downtown Public Library or the Public Safety Building three days a week. Anywhere from 30 to 50 individuals, mostly unhoused, join in.
Bernie and Marita say some people travel from Sandy and South Jordan to participate.
For Keenen Rupel, the program is a way to share experiences with others and have a productive start to his day.
“I've been coming to tai chi for about four months,” Rupel said. “It's been helpful to me because it provides a productive, like form of stimulation. I'm able to talk to people. I'm able to understand other people, hear their problems, and then if I have experience with that, I'm able to help.”
The program also offers free coffee and burritos. However, the warm meal is hardly the draw.
“This brings us together for something positive, rather than negative,” said Aaron Osborne, who says he’s been homeless in Salt Lake City for a few years. “I love doing the tai chi itself, because we're sleeping on the ground outside, and in the cold, my muscles get tight and sore. My body aches. This helps loosen me up, keeps me limber.”
The program also includes breathing exercises and activities like walking on stilts.
Salt Lake Community College associate professor Dan Poole and his class collect data for the Harts to help measure the success of the program’s activities and how they improve memory and function. Poole's class has been observing the class for over a year.
“Lately, we've been working a lot on just a simple memory test where we're giving people 10 random words or numbers to memorize and then repeat them back,” Poole explained. “And we do that periodically before and after tai chi sessions, and then over time, with the intention of just sort of measuring whether or not we see any change in memory.”
But overall, Poole says he’s impressed with how the group shows up.
“One occasion, the group immediately sort of organized themselves, pulled someone up, started everything, and ran a full session without any direction or leadership,” he recalled. “You know, internally, they were able to organize themselves and make that happen. So, you see a lot of that kind of effort, individually and collectively in the group.”
For Karen Haskie, one of the program’s original participants, the values she has learned from the class changed her life.
“Being really consistent and just setting goals, and then be adamant about being there,” Haskie said. “[Tai chi] is something that I've grown to like, and I just kind of built on that, and it's got to where I'm at today. I am in my own place. I have a job, and I've got my own vehicle."
For Rupel, while only a new participant says he's grateful
for the space the Harts have created and plans to be a regular.
"The fact that they come here and spend hours of their time every week, every day, rain, or shine, it's a really big deal to me because it makes feel like there are people that care, there are people that want to do something different, and something that, you know, builds up the community instead of just, letting the system deal with it."
For now, the Harts plan to continue this program for the foreseeable future. Next, they want to host the classes in different locations across the city, to expose it to others and maintain consistent participants no matter where their movements take them downtown.
