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Nearly 60 vendors at the second annual Health and Wellness Fair offered extensive public health education and various free health screenings, Saturday, March 28, on the Colorado County courthouse lawn.
The Health and Behavioral Wellness Council of Greater Colorado Valley launched the fair last year with 35 vendors. Fair Chair Tracy Lilie said word of mouth has driven the fair’s expansion, bringing in vendors from Bastrop, Katy, Houston and other cities. She recalled receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from last year’s fair with many vendors saying they would be willing to come back.
“I feel very blessed that we have the community that has gotten behind us to support us, and not only our local community, but the extended community,” Lilie said.
Formed in 2021, The Wellness Council seeks to improve health education and spread resource awareness through volunteer-driven community engagement. According to Lilie, the council outlined hosting a health fair as one of its first goals. Dr. Mazie Leftwich, president of The Wel lness Council, summarized the fair’s goal.
“We want to allow providers of various resources…to be able to let the citizens know that they’re available and what they do, who they serve, how to get in touch with them,” Dr. Mazie Leftwich, president of the Wellness Council, said. “But also at the same time, we want our citizens to know we have really a lot of services for a rural community.”
Dr. Jorge Duchicela and numerous medical assistants from Youens and Duchicela Clinic tabled and offered four of the 13 available health screenings. Duchicela said public awareness and affordabi l ity of resources impact availability to patients, which is key to healthcare.
“If people are not informed of what is it that they could have access to, then they’re not going to be here,” Duchicela said. “…Community outreach expands the availability.”
Other vendors shared information about social services, consumer medical products, government agencies and more.
Local resident Eddie Tores spoke to numerous vendors and participated in a couple of health screenings.
“It’s kind of helpful for me because I like the information they give out, and then it kind of gets me to understand and realize what’s going on,” Tores said.
Outside of the Health and Wellness Fair, The Wellness Council hosts free monthly one-hour seminars in person at the Colorado County courthouse and online via Zoom. More resources can be found on the organization’s website www.wellnessgcv.org and Facebook page.
