By MARY STEWART | The Selma Times-Journal

A class in the new year will help people stop smoking.

The program from the American Lung Association is hosted by the Something Better Lifestyle Improvement Project and will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

The class is an evidence-based program to help participants quit smoking.

“[The American Lung Association] has done lots of research and studies on the best way to do this,” said Carrie Grider, who is leading the program. “So, this program is supposed to have a very high success rate.”

Grider said that she was approached about starting a stop smoking class by a church member and began searching for a training program. She attended American Lung Association’s training in Birmingham.

“The church that asked me about (the program) is in Birmingham, so they have not yet scheduled a program,” she said. “I am going to go ahead and offer it here in Selma, so I can get my feet wet and start helping people here.”

Grider gets her passion for helping others live a healthier lifestyle from her church and the Something Better Lifestyle Improvement Program that she is a part of.

“It is a non-profit organization, and our goal is to help people invest in their health, to have a better quality of life and to offer them something better,” she said.

They offer workshops, seminars, and other classes all geared to teach participants to live a healthier lifestyle.

The fee for the class is $75, and it will cover the whole program. Participants will also receive all of the materials used in the program as well as a CD on relaxation.

“Managing stress is one of the factors that we focus on because many people smoke out of stress,” Grider explained, “They feel like smoking is a stress reducer so we want to help people to cope with stress.”

She said the CDs are a better way to relax, so participants will no longer rely on cigarettes.

Another bonus of this program is that the facilitators will remain in contact with participants after the end of the program.

“We remain in touch with the participants to help them with any crisis that they may have with the smoking, or if they need additional support,” Grider said.

During the week Grider is asking for a panel of former smokers to volunteer to be part of a discussion on “Quit Day.”

The Freedom from Smoking program will meet once a week for eight weeks. The dates are as follows: Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30 and Feb. 1, 6, 13, and 23. The first class will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at Wallace Community College Selma in the Hank Sanders Technology Building in room 211. RSVPs are encouraged, however, people are welcome to join the class on the first day.

To RSVP as a participant or volunteer as a panelist contact Carrie Grider at (334) 872-6984 or email her at somethingbetter06@outlook.com. To learn more about the Something Better Lifestyle Improvement Project, visit www.sblip.org.