It’s an event at the “People’s Clinic,” where everyone is welcome and everything is free.

“We’re having a community in-reach, and we say in-reach rather than outreach because it’ll be held here within our facility,” said Lyanne Mendiola, a licensed practical nurse at Public Health. 

This Saturday, the Department of Public Health and Social Services will be offering select essential health services at the Northern Region Community Health Center.

Among the services include vaccinations for children ages 2 to 18 who are uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid, or covered under the medically indigent program.

The timing is critical with the new school year around the corner and a recent uptick in measles and whooping cough cases.

“A lot of people think that none of these things will happen to them, but we never know when we come across anybody that might be carrying these particular diseases or someone who comes from an area that has a high rate of it, comes in—we don’t know. So, we want to protect our children, protect ourselves from that, especially babies and school-aged children,” added Mendiola. 

Mental health is also a priority. Participants can receive a brief mental health screening and a private consultation with a licensed clinical psychologist.

“Not everybody understands that mental health is an important thing to address. It affects your daily life, your work life, and things of that nature, so it’s really important to address any issues they may have so that they can have a better life span,” said Shirley Untalan, a social worker at DPHSS. 

Additional support will be available, including tips to manage diabetes and high blood pressure, resources on cancer screenings, and help to quit tobacco or vaping.

“If you can, please send your family here, your kids, as school starts. We want to be able to reach out to all of you. We provide other services in addition to the activities for tomorrow,” added Abraham Mora, DPHSS. 

The in-reach event takes place this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the northern region community health center.