The Fort Valley chapter of The Links, Incorporated hosted a health expo to tackle health disparities among Black Americans.
FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Health disparities in the United States remain a persistent issue, with Black Americans facing some of the most significant challenges.
In response to these health trends, the Fort Valley Chapter of The Links, Incorporated held their Black Family Wellness health expo on Saturday, offering free screenings and medical expertise.
“So many community members don’t know what questions to ask when it comes to their health. We want to make sure that when they see a doctor they know,” said Tammy Long-Dunn, a representative from The Links, Incorporated.
The expo provided a range of services, including STEM activities for youth, hands-only CPR training, and consultations with medical professionals.
“We had STEM for the youth, and then we had, um, hands only CPR, our registered nurse. We had a medical doctor, a dentist on hand for oral health, as well as a nutritionist on hand to give some information about nutrition,” Long-Dunn said.
Dr. Bipul Biswas from Fort Valley State University and his students are working on innovative solutions to address some of these issues, particularly food insecurity. The university offered free produce at the expo.
“People have to see what this food (is), where this food is grown and how we can grow it better. That is how and how they can be self-sustainable,” Biswas said.
Long-Dunn said that improving healthcare across all demographics requires a comprehensive approach and community resources.
“Health is a community issue. Some people need to know what their resources are and the only way to get those resources to the people is to bring resources in,” she said.
In addition to medical professionals, The Links, Incorporated also had financial advisors on scene to teach skills about financial independence, and voter registration information. The organization plans to continue focusing on education in the coming years to address these persistent health disparities.
