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Community Health Fair at Family Health Center of Worcester
August 13, 2007
Published in the August 17-30 issue of InCityTimes
By Daphna Nachminovitch
(c) InCity Times
Family Health Center of Worcester, Inc. (FHCW), the Worcester downtown health center, held a neighborhood health fair on Friday, August 10th. Hundreds of Worcester residents attended the health-focused festivities despite the rain and chill.
At their annual "Neighborhood Health Fair," Family Health Center showcased their many programs and services to local residents, while also providing space for neighborhing agencies to attend and provide health-related educational information and entertainment. The event takes place every year during National Health Center Week in August, which recognized the work of Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers.
Family Health Center President and CEO, Frances M. Anthes said, "The strongest message of National Health Center Week this year was to remind our patients that we are their health care home. We are the one-stop source for all of the health care needs of our patients as well as their families - from primary care to dental to mental health to prenatal care to finding an insurance provider."
This year's health fair feature a "birthday party" theme in celebration of the health center's 35th anniversary, complete with healthy snacks, birthday cakes, party toys and a moonwalk for kids. State Representative Vincent Pedone addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of health community and Family Health Center services. Other special guests included the Webster 5 Cents Savings Bank clown and Twister, the Worcester Tornadoes mascot. Attendees enjoyed winning prizes from the "basket raffle" donated by Family Health Center staff and a finale prize of a bicycle donated by Bicycle Alley on Main Street in Worcester.
Event organizer Amanda R. Garrison noted, "in keeping with our mission to create access to high quality health care for all in our community, we were excited to add health screenings to our health fair for the first time ever."
The event was sponsored by Neighborhood Health Plan, Senior Whole Health, BMC HealthNet Plan and Network Health.