Dozens of Hispanic families came to the Ballroom at Gettysburg College on Sunday for the first ever “Celebrate your Health Day.” The event, sponsored by Collaborating for Youth, Wellspan, Casa de Cultura, and Amerihealth Caritas, included an obstacle course, bouncy house, and games for children, as well as crafts, yoga, dance, fitness training.
Also available were mammograms provided by Wellspan and pediatric COVID vaccinations, COVID booster shots, blood pressure monitoring, and blood sugar screenings provided by the PA Dept. of Health.
The event was also filled with tables staffed by local organizations that provided information to help people improve their mental and physical health.
“My goal was to reimagine an event that would take place every year prior to Covid” said Latino community outreach coordinator Grace Bushway from the college’s Center for Public Service.
Bushway collaborated with Wellspan Health Educator Yeimi Gagliardi and others to create the event.
Gagliardi said her mission is to make everyone aware of the resources they have access to and make sure they make their physical and mental health a priority.
Gagliardi said immigrant communities are often unaware of the resources in their community and their rights regarding services, so they shy away from seeking help. Through events like these they can receive the information they need to receive needed medical attention.
Gagliardi focuses on teaching individuals how to access services such as health care, translation services, and transportation services to fulfill their health care needs.
“We are lucky to have two federally qualified health centers here in Adams County that provide services to anyone regardless of their ethnicity or legal status,” she said.
“If anyone is looking for further information regarding health care, they can always reach out to me, and I can point them in the right direction. I am also a member of the Latina Services Tasks Force linked with Healthy Adams County and we hold a Thursday night Zoom meeting to spread new information. To join these zoom meetings all you have to do is email me and I will send over the link,” said Gagliardi.
Gagliardi can be contacted at Ygagliardi@wellspan.org.
A complete list of organizations that participated in the health day:
Adams County Head Start, Central PA Food Bank, Childrens Health and Nutrition Tasks force, Collaborating for Youth, Dance Fitness, HACC, Central PA Community College, Health Adams County, Keystone Agriculture Worker Program, Luv Yourself Yoga, Migrant Education Program IU5, PA Department of Health, Pathstone, PA immigrant Resource Center, ProtectPA, The Gleaning Project, VIDA Charter School, YWCA Hanover Safe Home, and WellSpan Mobile Mammography.
Jasmin is from Hollywood, FL. She is a junior at Gettysburg College, pursuing a bachelors degree in political science with a minor in peace and justice studies. Jasmin is a member of the Gettysburg College softball team and the Chi Omega sorority. She will be writing newsletters and articles for Gettysburg Connection. SHe is very excited to connect with the community members of Gettysburg.
