Community Health, Wellness and Resource Fair available this Saturday at The Center

Christopher Harris, Commonwealth Journal, Somerset, Ky.
·4 min read

Jul. 18—Here's to your health, Pulaski County.

The Pulaski County Community Health, Wellness and Resource Fair will take place this Saturday, July 22, at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

The event, now in its second year and grown from 2022, lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free to the public. Presenting sponsors are the Kentucky Cancer Program and the Somerset Junior Woman's Club. Don Franklin Somerset Family of Dealerships is the powering sponsor.

Around 38 different organizations are expected to take part in the event, which will be located not in the main event hall of The Center, but rather the lobby, the ballrooms, and outside the building on the front lawn.

Other main partners are 5:16 Clinic, Healthy Somerset, Lake Cumberland District Health Department, Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, PFLAG Somerset, Pulaski Migrant Education, Somerset-Pulaski County EMS, and United Way of South Central Kentucky.

"We'll have several free screenings and health services," said organizer Wynona Padgett. "Probably one of the biggest will be the sports physicals since it's school time. Lake Cumberland Medical Associates and the hospital are taking care of that. Also, the A1C diabetes screenings will be a big draw."

Any screenings that require privacy, that will be given, noted Padgett.

Various information booths and resources on health and safety will be set up at the event, and special displays, such as the massive "Incredible Colon" that people can walk through and learn more about that part of the body, as well as the similar "MEGA Lungs," a larger-than-life look at what helps the human body breathe.

"It's like 15 feet tall," said Padgett of the MEGA Lungs. "It's huge."

Information on vaping and tobacco-use cessation and prevention will be part of the event, to help take care of those lungs, and sign-ups will be available for screenings that have to be done off-site, such as mammograms and free medical and dental services from the 5:16 Clinic. There will also be referrals for free cervical and HPV (human papillomavirus) screenings, and also free colon cancer screenings.

There will also be CPR demonstrations, vision testing, blood pressure and BMI checks, child IDs with the Somerset Police Department, children's activities, indoor and outdoor games, and art opportunities, books available while they last, door prizes, and much more.

"Everybody who registers in at the health fair will get a ticket for a free ice cream sandwich," said Padgett, noting that it's courtesy of Healthy Somerset Boys and Girls Club and Prairie Farms.

Padgett noted that everyone and anyone in the community is welcome to come to the event, but "we especially want to reach into the marginalized communities," she said. There will be Spanish translators on site to help with the language barrier for many of those who will be taking advantage of the resources available at the health fair.

"A lot of the factories, the farms, those are contract laborers often and they don't have insurance," said Padgett. "So this is an opportunity for them to get some services. There will be veterans services there. Traditionally, those in the African-American community have much higher rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. We want to reach into those populations as well."

Padgett also noted that the Help the Homeless organization is working to get the word out about the health fair to the community's unhoused population, and may also try to transport some of them to the event if possible.

"Obviously, for people who are uninsured or underinsured, this is a good way for them to find services that they need," said Padgett.

"I appreciate everyone in our community who has come on board to be a part of this," she added. "Hopefully, this will just continue to grow and reach into the entire Lake Cumberland area. We have so many in our community who need services and are either uninsured or underinsured, or they may even have insurance and not know where to go. There are a lot of resources in our community that people talk about needing that are here, they just don't know how to find them. So this is an opportunity to try to get them hooked up."