FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2023
Contact: Natalie Shelton
(706) 302-6707
Community health fair to feature free health screenings, food and fun
Everyone is invited to celebrate the Meriwether County community at a Health Fair on Saturday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Manchester-Meriwether County Recreation Department at 121 Perry Street in Manchester.
The Community Health Fair will feature free health screenings (including blood pressure and vision), fresh produce, COVID-19 and flu vaccines, HIV testing, books, and plenty of fun and games provided by over 35 organizations. The Manchester Fire Department will have its Fire Safety House available and will be performing CPR demonstrations. Popcorn, snow cones, and healthy snacks will be available, as well as additional free food to the first 300 people who attend.
Warm Springs Medical Center will offer low-cost lab services, including CBC/blood count ($5), urine ($3), prostate/PSA ($8), thyroid/TSH ($10), and lipid ($15). Anyone wanting the lipid panel should not eat anything after midnight the night before the test.
District 4 Public Health, Community Action For Improvement (CAFI), and Meriwether County Family Connection are hosting the community health fair to provide access to health screenings, information and resources that aim to improve the health and well-being of the community. CAFI is the local agency of the national Community Action Partnership, which established May as Community Action Month.
For over 50 years, CAFI has provided services in Meriwether, Carroll, Coweta, Heard and Troup counties to local low-income individuals and families to help them reduce the burdens of poverty. Working with other local community partners, CAFI uses a “whole family” approach by connecting families with quality children’s education programs, job retraining for adults, stable and affordable housing, utility assistance for seniors, and much more.
“Each May, during Community Action Month, we reflect on the impact CAFI and our network has had on local families,” said Jennifer Corcione of CAFI. “The health fair will be a wonderful time to celebrate how our community works together to create opportunities and improve the lives of our neighbors.”
Last year alone, CAFI weatherized 124 homes to be energy efficient. With funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, CAFI distributed over $3.1 million to residents to avoid energy or water disconnection. CAFI also supported an additional 97 low-income households, helping them achieve self-sufficiency.
CAFI made a meaningful impact on the lives of these families during the fiscal year 2022 with the help of more than $139,000 in funding from both the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and the CSBG Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In addition, 306 children received Head Start and Early Head Start services in Carroll, Coweta and Heard counties. For more information, call (706) 884-2651, email cafiinfo@cafi-ga.org, or visit cafi-ga.org.
Meriwether County Family Connection is part of Georgia Family Connection, which brings together partners from all 159 counties in Georgia to help ensure all children are healthy, primed for school, and succeed when they get there; families are stable, self-sufficient, and productive; and communities are vibrant, robust, and thriving.
Meriwether County Family Connection primarily focuses on work in early literacy, low birth-weight prevention, Parents As Teachers’ parent education and family stability. It offers a wide variety of programs and services, including Reading Cubs, which provides early literacy tools for children ages 0 to 4 to prepare them for pre-kindergarten, and Reading Rangers, which offers early literacy enrichment activities for children in pre-K.
Meriwether County Family Connection also provides pop-up libraries across the county, summer programs, and summer camps. In addition, Family Connection holds parent engagement events throughout the year, including literacy and cooking classes as well as maternal health information and resources.
Meriwether Family Connection works with local partners and has a collaborative meeting on the third Tuesday of each month at 10 a.m. For more information on its programs, services, or monthly meeting, email meriwetherfamilyconnection@gmail.com or visit meriwether.gafcp.org.
District 4 Public Health protects and improves the health and safety of communities in Meriwether and 11 surrounding counties. Meriwether County residents are served by District 4 Public Health through the Meriwether County Health Department, 51 Gay Connector Road, Greenville (706-672-4974) and the Manchester Health Center, 300 West Perry St., Manchester (706-672-4267).
For health department appointments, call 800-847-4262. Each health department offers a wide range of quality, affordable health care, including immunizations, well-child check-ups (including school screenings), breast and cervical cancer prevention, family planning, pregnancy testing, HIV/STD/STI prevention and testing, and more. One also can request Georgia birth or death certificates at either location. Both health departments also are the home of Meriwether County’s Environmental Health offices and the county’s WIC and Nutrition Centers.
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