Wanting to raise awareness and help the community connect with medical providers and nonprofits, Our Lady of Perpetual Help church hosted its annual health fair.
The health fair, which has been held annually for more than 20 years, offers various services such as free flu shots, ultrasounds for carotid and thyroid, A1C testing, vision screening, blood pressure measurements, stroke education and BMI testing. The event featured a total of five lectures and 21 booths where visitors could learn more about any topics that interest them.
“What we hope to do is to provide services and education and resources to people regarding health,” said Maggie Holloway, the leader of the Our lady of Perpetual Health Ministry, “And then a lot of health-related vendors in here that bring information about the services they provide as well as giveaways.”
Vendors offered information on topics including mental health, stroke, sugar intake, fall prevention, and more, to help educate guests and provide resources for them, their friends and family.
“I’ve lived here for 34 years, so that was part of the reason, too, why I want to be here and help, because, you know, I live here in the community,” said Khurshid Escalante, an occupational therapist hosting the booth about fall prevention for elderly people. “I want to be part of it, and this is a way of being together doing that.”
Many of the booth hosts shared the goal of reducing the stigmas about many of the health issues that people can be going through, and creating a safe space for people to ask questions and know who to contact.
“So, this is community helping community, peer to peer,” said Elizabeth Alvarado, who hosted the booth about mental health with NAMIwalks (National Alliance on Mental Illness). “We are based peer to peer and we provide that free group supports and classes to break the stigma about mental health.”
Many guests were able to get fun trinkets such as stress toys and bags and as well as brochures to help educate themselves and understand more about each organization with which they interacted.
“So just speaking to them, they were able to give me direct phone numbers where I can contact people directly,” said Nikkie Villia, a guest at the event, “And that was really great for the one that I stopped by and it was for this one, for Mental Hookup. She also gave me some information that might be useful for me to pass on to family members. Yeah, I really like what she had to say and their approach to mental health and that they help the community based on a large scale.”
