Evanston’s Health and Human Services Department will be holding a 12-week program that encourages women to walk and promotes health and wellness.

Women Out Walking, in its eighth year, is a program where women track their steps each day and submit that amount each week. Registration has been open for the program for more than two weeks, but WOW officially begins March 21 with a kickoff event.

“It’s a great opportunity for women to network within their own town and find other women who have healthy behaviors like themselves to form a collaborative and supportive health group,” the city’s public health educator Kristin Preihs said.

The kickoff will take place at Evanston Township High School with Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and Health & Human Services Director Evonda Thomas-Smith and will include dancing, vendors and trial classes.

For the rest of the 12 weeks, the program will include events such as cooking classes and will officially end on June 13. Program winners will be announced June 21.

“The reason that women have participated and the reason that the program continues is because we found that it’s a great opportunity for women who want to try different ways to be healthy or who want to be healthy within groups and find an outlet to participate within their own town,” Preihs said.

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