After about six months of the Suffolk Partnership for a Healthy Community’s movement program being conducted in local businesses, churches, organizations and schools, it has gotten good results from those who are committed.

The program started in January at Duke Automotive. Jessica Worley, a title clerk there, got inspired to start moving through the program.

“That was kind of the starting point for me,” she said.

She had been noticing little things about her health — trouble keeping up with her two youngest children, ages 11 and 9, and a blood pressure reading that kept creeping up.

“I started to get it in my head, it’s time to do something,” she said. “I’m pushing 40, I’m having a hard time keeping up with the kids, and I’m tired of looking the way I’m looking.”

She said the friendly competition and encouragement among employees at Duke after the program started inspired her to keep going. She has lost 20 pounds so far.

It didn’t hurt that a little friendly competition among her family started at the same time.

She and her husband were talking with other family members at a function about how they all needed to lose weight, so they started a 12-week program to keep track. His mother and brother and her sister and stepmother joined in. All six weigh in each Sunday, and whoever has lost the most percentage of their original weight at the end will be declared the winner.

James Worley said his brother is currently winning. But everyone has lost some weight, including him.

Worley, a Norfolk police officer, said he has an easier time at work now that he’s lost about 31 pounds. His bulletproof vest doesn’t pinch, his gear belt falls down now, and he has an easier time getting out of his car.

“There’s no — HUH — to get out of the car,” he said, referring to a strenuous effort. “I just get out.”

The movement program has made a different for Stacey Richards, too. The finance manager at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts got inspired when the program started there.

“We’re a really small staff, and we’re always super busy,” Richards said, noting she realized she was spending the vast majority of her days at her desk. “It made me realize how little I moved every day. You really need to move around. It makes you feel better. It makes you more alert.”

Richards asked her family for a Fitbit for her birthday, which has helped motivate her to move even more. She also is in a challenge with six other friends to see who can walk the most. If she’s falling behind by the end of the day, “I’ll go for a really long walk just to get ahead of them,” she said.

“It gives me a tremendous amount of energy and just makes me feel a lot better,” she said. “It’s healthier for me.”

The program, which is funded by the Obici Healthcare Foundation, gives out free pedometers and information to businesses and other locations that decide to do the program. Deborah Nadell, the coordinator of the program, visits to kick off the program and motivate employees. Businesses can choose their rewards and choose whether to continue with the program after the initial time period.

Those interested in the program can call 539-1525 to speak to Nadell about the program.