Health fair in Belmont

By Shelby Smithey…

The first annual Truth for Youth Health Fair will be held this Saturday at the Belmont Building to extend help to those in need of healthcare in the community.
Vendors including Pensacola State College, West Florida Mammography Unit, Walgreens and the Escambia County Health Department will be onsite providing free screenings, educational information and flu shots.
Lynne Clement, a nursing student at Pensacola State College, is the organizer of the event. She said that she had the idea to do a health fair and reached out to Rev. John Powell who is the founder of Truth for Youth, a community initiative that has been serving at-risk youth in Pensacola since the 90s.
“Truth for Youth is an organization that’s been around for 17 years,” Clement said. “I knew they had this ministry and I thought the Belmont Building was a perfect spot for a health fair and Truth for Youth said that they would love to do it. This health fair will help people in need as well as raise awareness of Truth for Youth and the great things they do in the community.”

Clements said that the sole purpose of the Truth for Youth Health Fair is to help people who are in need of healthcare services, and to point them in the right direction with their care.

“There is such a huge amount of people without healthcare,” Clements said. “That community of people needs to have access to free screenings and tests. If someone finds out they do have a problem, we will provide them with information on what the next step of their treatment is.”

The Truth for Youth Health Fair will be providing a variety of tests and screenings including vision, hearing, diabetic and cholesterol screenings.

“We will be giving out free meters for diabetics and Baptist Hospital will be doing cholesterol testing which the results will be mailed out afterwards,” she said. “West Florida Mammography Unit will be providing free mammograms and Walgreens is going to be giving free flu shots.”

“PSC will have seven different vendors, including GED information, grant programs and student job services,” Clements said. “The Student Nurse Association will be taking blood pressure and the PSC massage therapy department will be giving free massages.”

Entertainment and food including hot dogs, ice cream and peanuts will be offered for a small price. The Truth for Youth Health Fair is being held at the Belmont Building, 432 W Belmont Street from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. For more information on Truth for Youth or to find out how to donate, visit truthforyouth.org