By Ethan Duran
Health Matters–Volunteers at last year’s event sort through produce for the mobile food pantry. Picture taken by Trina Searcy
Community Care Inc. will be offering physical and mental health screenings during its Health Matters Event at 3220 W. Vliet Street. When the doors open at 10 a.m., community members can receive free flu shots and screening for problems like diabetes and depression. Families are welcome to bring their children to enjoy music and get their faces painted for free. For those in need, a mobile food pantry will hand out bags of groceries until 2 p.m., which is when the event ends.
Doctors will be giving out flu shots, chair fitness screenings and checks for physical and mental health problems like dementia. Community Care doctors will meet with visitors and give an educational presentation about other health programs like Dee’s Medical Services LLC, Survey of Health Wisconsin and the SDS Senior Program. All the services offered at this event will be free, including the flu shots.
“It’s important that older people get flu shots, so they stay healthy during the flu season,” said Chief Administration Officer at Community Care Sherrice Gilcreast. “It’s important for us to build a relationship with the community that we serve.” This Health Matters event aims to inform people about the types of services Community Care offers, like the PACE program.
PACE is short for the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, which is a mix of health care, long-term care and prescription services for seniors. According to Community Care’s website, members will get a team of professionals to help take care of their medical and long-term care needs. More information on PACE will be presented at the Vliet center, which hosts the program.
“I’m looking forward to seeing people in the community living around this building come into our doors,” Gilcreast said. “There are several Community Care employees that I’m looking forward to seeing [how they] interact with their community and volunteer their time.” About 200 people are expected to attend which makes this one of Community Care’s largest events this year.
The Vliet location is Community Care’s ‘one stop shop’ where members can pick up medicine, get checkups and take advantage of other services. Community Care also offers transportation to its locations and has centers in 14 different counties in Wisconsin, three of them being located in Milwaukee County.
Last year, Community Care Inc. celebrated 40 years of care for elderly people and those with physical or cognitive disabilities. Gilcreast says that the Health Matters event hasn’t been done in a few years, but the organization plans on holding it annually.