R.A.G.E.

Origins: Background and Education

Lauren Providence’s business motto is, “If your body isn’t becoming to you, you should be coming to us”. The leader of RXercises© and Fort Providence Senior Boot Camp, she is a certified personal trainer, life coach, and paraprofessional certified diabetes educator through the American Association of Diabetes Educators. Her favorite R.A.G.E. moment was at So Fresh Family Fitness Night at Ogden Park- March Madness Edition, where she was able to serve the 50+ community . This Member Monday we will see how Lauren brings resources and opportunities to Englewood.

Lauren was born and raised in Queens, New York, and Philadelphia before making Chicago her home. She graduated from the city’s number one STEM, Stuyvesant High School and continued her college education at the Wharton School of Business, at the University of Pennsylvania” where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance and Bachelor of Arts in Marketing. Her early entry to Wall Street, and the opportunities afforded to her by Travis Bell, the owner of Daniels & Bell Inc, the only Black investment firm with a seat on the New York Stock Exchange for decades.

Career: Finance and Health

 She became the first black female to own and control an investment banking and securities brokerage firm in this country, and also was the first minority firm to complete an initial public offering (IPO) of stock for a company.  Lauren clarifies,” with the support of politicians, like Harold Washington and many other black mayors and dignitaries nationwide she had the support to maintain her position as 51% owner of a municipal bond firm named, Gibbons Hester Providence Inc”. Lauren provided individuals of diverse backgrounds the opportunity to explore investment banking and securities brokerage. The opportunities were granted to 30 individuals from Chicago’s south and west sides to broaden the horizons for their community

Over the following years,  Lauren felt there was an issue of awareness of healthcare resources and utilization. Lauren calls this “disparities in healthcare”. As someone who has dealt with COPD, Lauren believes you should “love yourself as who you are but rather than dwell on the negatives, delve into the possibilities”! She practices that model through her health coaching services throughout the community.

She founded Fort Providence Fitness and Rxecercises©  as ways to offer seniors and individuals suffering from a gamut of over 65 pathologies. Those diseases include diabetes and all of its comorbidities like hypertension, neuropathy, heart disease, obesity and more. Scientific evidence suggests that exercise and food are medicine. Upon that premise, she gave individuals an outlet for personalized exercise at several local senior residential housing facilities that included Englewood’s Tolton Manor, as well as Brendan and Hayes Manors.

 In a health partnership with the Chicago Housing Authority, she positively impacted the health of scores of seniors. As an advocate of the President’s Council on Sports Fitness and Nutrition, many senior participants received commendations signed by Barack Obama.  Lauren believes you should “love yourself as who you are but rather than dwell on the negatives, delve into the possibilities!” She practices that model through her health coaching services throughout the community.

Lauren impacts the community in multiple ways with her partnership with Catholic Charities and Chicago Housing Authority. Lauren was able to provide a program to deal with health through exercise and participation with the TopBoxFood.com, a food distribution program servicing the Englewood community, she offered her menu planning services and revenues generated through her efforts helped to support her senior fitness programs. Through Rxercises© she partnered with local organizations to offer a Fall Prevention Program with Georgia Doty Comprehensive Health. Her organizations offered programs on balance and other health and fitness issues related to diabetic neuropathy for those over 55.

Englewood, Life, and RAGE

Lauren became a R.A.G.E. member in 2017 after attending a few community meetings. Lauren’s new hobby is buying property and she states that watching Aysha Butler “impressed” her and “promulgated” her to buy her first property in Englewood. Lauren has a wealth of information on Englewood’s healthcare resources, so the Quality of Life Plan’s Health and Wellness Taskforce was a natural fit for this health professional. Regarding one of the recent programs, Englewood health navigators, Lauren states that her interests were sparked since she is “looking to partner with someone in the community that battles disparities in health within communities of color”. Lauren believes R.A.G.E. is important for Englewood because of its leadership that “attracts people and stays relevant”.

Lauren’s favorite R.A.G.E. moment was hosting her senior fitness class at So Fresh Family Fitness Night. It was her first event in a community space that was open to the public and she was really impressed by the turnout. She plans on offering that to the community again, but she was also inspired to launch more community events like an upcoming event for National Diabetes Day. She also wants to utilize her Englewood property to either make a veteran housing center or housing for “mothers on the come-up”. 

 She uses different coaching protocols for issues, financial or physical, and has plans of creating support for under-resourced communities, like veterans and mothers. Lauren lives near a group of girls who are part of a dance team she has seen at multiple events. Recently Lauren mustered up the motivation to run out and say, “I love this!”, when they were practicing their routine. She is now sponsoring Englewood’s Golden Elite Dance Group at this season’s Bud Billiken parade. She encourages the community to support them and other groups with a positive impact here. 

This Fall, RXercises© will be launching WateRworxxX, an alkaline/ CBD infused hydrating beverage; she’s seeking mixed-use, retail and residential space to house the endeavor and provide employment and housing under the Opportunity Zone constraints. When speaking of National Diabetes Day, where she will be facilitating an event, and Englewood, she said, “65% of the area is obese and obesity causes heart disease”.She will also be launching a pre-diabetes prevention program, this November, that is fully backed by the Center For Disease Control; she hopes to be a CDC recognized facilitator within 2020.  RAGE is excited to have Lauren as a member and hope her message and work reaches more residents in Englewood!