April 6, 2009
NC-HCAP students bring health care services to local
citizens
 More
than 200 Chapel Hill/Carrboro residents turned out for the sixth annual Health
on the Block community health fair on Saturday, April 4. The four-hour
event, organized by the NC-HCAP Health Careers Club, took place at Hargraves Community Center
in Chapel Hill.
The club created Health on the Block as part of an
ongoing effort to educate and empower the community to actively participate in
healthy lifestyle behaviors.
For locals with little or
no insurance, Health on the Block may be their only way to receive any type of
health care advice or services.
Chapel
Hill residents Janie and
Marvin Dukes attend Health on the Block each year to get free screenings and
checkups.
"I enjoy the whole day and everything is free," Janie Dukes, 53, said. "I don't
work, so I don't get any kind of health care."
Twenty local health care
organizations provided a variety of free services
ranging from eye examinations to blood pressure and kidney screenings.
"The NC-HCAP Health Careers
Club members are devoted to promoting healthy behaviors in the community," said
club advisor Paula Borden. "Health on the Block is a great opportunity to raise
awareness and extend services to a population that is typically underserved in
health care."
A population that includes
Trefron Davis, for instance.
"I just moved here and I'm
homeless. I don't have insurance, so I don't go to the doctor. But today, I was
able to find out about a lot of clinics I can attend, a lot of helpful
information as far as the services provided in Orange County," said Davis. "I
really needed it, too. Being diabetic and homeless, I needed to know what my
blood sugar was. Since getting here [to Chapel Hill],
I haven't really had any health check-ups. I got it all here today."
Patrena Benton, NC-HCAP director, was complimentary of the organizers'
efforts and the event's impact in the community and praised the effectiveness
of the health careers club members' grass-roots efforts.
"Health on the Block enables
students who aspire to health careers to actively engage with their local
community. This project was a huge success, not only because of a large
attendance, but also because they reached citizens who would not have
ordinarily had access to these services but definitely need them." said Benton.
"It is clear that Health on
the Block has been embraced by the community. We are excited about its
continued growth and look forward to providing these much-needed services again
next year."
And so are the citizens who
benefit from the health fair.
"I wanted to bring my boy
out to get his eyes tested," said James Henderson, 45. "This is the first year
we've been to one of these, but we definitely will be back."
View photo gallery
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About NC-HCAP: NC-HCAP is an interinstitutional program
of the University
of North Carolina
committed to increasing the number of underrepresented minority and
economically/educationally disadvantaged students pursuing health careers.
For more information about the North Carolina Health Careers
Access Program, visit our Web site at http://nchcap.unc.edu
or contact (919) 966-2264.
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NC Health Careers Access Program