Ben Rossi and four others all had a common vision, to help those with Parkinson’s disease and so InMotion was created.

InMotion is a non-profit in Beachwood, OH created to help people with Parkinson’s feel better everyday. Ben Rossi, part owner, is a personal trainer who owns a gym in Beachwood called ATP.

Rossi decided to take a course that would teach him how to work with people who have Parkinson’s disease. Rossi said, “I went to a workshop at the Cleveland Clinic but there was nothing locally. All these groups were brought from out of town to do this workshop. That’s when we had the idea of what if we did something like this locally to help people with Parkinson’s.”

With the organization formed in 2014, they opened their doors in March of 2015 with high hopes to make a change. Rossi said, “When we opened our doors I felt that it would pick up pretty fast because there is nothing like this around. There would definitely be a demand because there are over 35,000 people in Northeast Ohio with Parkinson’s, so I figured it would have a high trend but the impact we are having now is beyond what I could have ever imagined.”

Because it’s a neurological disorder, which means over time it starts to slow you down, Rossi believes it’s important for people with Parkinson’s to workout to keep them moving and try to limit the symptoms. Rossi said, “Whereas medication splashes dopamine to the brain, working out forces you to release dopamine to your body. Exercise can help them to bring their strength back and help them with simple tasks like getting out of a car or walking straight.”

Because it makes people tighter and slower, InMotion trainers design workouts to do the exact opposite to help limit the symptoms. Rossi said, “We focus on the symptoms such as getting out of a chair, weight shifting, balance, walking in all directions and cognitive training, so we look at those and create workouts and movements to keep them moving and progressing positively.“

Rossi believes that it has not been totally easy to grow as they had to work hard to build trusted relationships. Rossi said, “It took us a long long time to get to know many of the physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and other doctors locally in Cleveland and to build relationships with them so once in a one on one setting with patients they then would refer them to us and our community settings to help them grow.

Kirstin D’Alessandro, a person who has Parkinson’s and has gone to InMotion, believes that it is an amazing place that is truly making a change in our community. She said, “There truly is nothing else like it, all the classes, all the help, the great group of people who are truly there for you to make each other better.”

D’Alessandro, who began going to InMotion in March 2017 after she stopped working, said she had very positive first thoughts of the organization. She said, “It was a nice unique group of people who were there to help you and they really know what they are doing and how to deal with people with Parkinson’s.”

After going there for several years, D’Alessandro believes that it truly has had such a positive impact on her life. She said, “Exercise is the best medicine for Parkinson’s so it has really helped a lot in that sense but just the fact of being surrounded with people like you who all want to get better. It’s nice to just socialize with them, too.”

Rossi discussed how kind their community is and how great the area is with helping to support them. He said, “Fortunately Cleveland has a bunch of people who are willing to donate and help us. It’s great to see that over 50% of our InMotion community gives back so that we can continue to help others. We also head to many foundations that are willing to give us money to keep supporting our dream to help improve people’s lives.”

Rossi said there are many things to be proud of with what he has accomplished with InMotion, but to put it simply, he is glad that they are truly changing lives. Rossi said, “We eliminated the barrier to care and made it open to everyone and we have created a safe environment for everyone.

“We created a great community of people who all go through the same thing and all want to achieve the same thing by coming to our classes especially that we were able to continue our classes through Zoom during the pandemic to continue to give people the care they needed. It truly is a one of a kind organization,” he said.

Rossi focuses on getting one percent better everyday and their motto pushes their idea. “Good better best, never let it rest, until your good is better and your better is best,” he said.

Rossi hopes to continue the growth that they have had and to continue to make a change in the community. InMotion is located at 23905 Mercantile Rd in Beachwood. They can be found online at https://beinmotion.org/