On a beautiful and sunny Palm Sunday, local Latino families and health care and service organizations gather for Gettysburg College's third annual Celebrate Health (Celebra to Salud!) event. Did.
Sponsored by WellSpan Health and hosted by Casa de la Cultura, Immigrant Education, and Collaborating for Youth, the annual gathering will be held in 2022 with WellSpan health educator Yeimi Gagliardi and the university's Center for Public Service Supporting Latino Communities. It was first conceived by coordinator Grace Bushway. connecting the Hispanic community with local medical resources in Adams County;
The well-attended event featured information tables staffed by local health service organizations, which included samples of healthy foods, literature, introductions to various medical resources, and information on specific pathways to health. Guidance was provided regarding the decision-making process. In addition to offering blood sugar testing and blood pressure monitoring, topics covered ranged from Lyme disease prevention, smoking cessation, and fitness regimens to opioid and diabetes education.
Other service organizations also showed participants how to access critical services such as immigrant education. Legal resources. Food and nutritional resources. Day care. bilingual education. Domestic violence counseling. family activities. News information resources. translation services, transportation services, etc.
A well-attended soccer tournament took place on the lawn outside the Union Building, while children enthusiastically participated in games, puzzles and art stations indoors.
Organizations participating in this year's event include: Pennsylvania Respect Coalition (PCAR). Adams County Head Start; House of Culture; Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. Child Health and Nutrition Task Force. Cooperation for youth. Healthy Adams County. Keystone Health Agricultural Worker Program; Manos Unidas Hispanic American Center. Pennsylvania Department of Health; Pennsylvania Immigrant Education. PSU extension. Vida Charter School; WellSpan Health, and the YWCA Safe Home organization.
For more information about health and wellness resources for Spanish speakers, please contact Yeimi Gagliardi at Ygagliardi@wellspan.org.
The following representatives also attended the event recruiting participants for the news information program: pasa la vos (Means “spread the word” in Spanish). pasa la vos is a free, text-based, bilingual information outlet created by Gettysburg Connection Community Outreach in collaboration with other local agencies that provides regular texts with important information to Spanish speakers in Adams County and surrounding areas. Share through messages.
every week, pasa la vos Subscribers receive news, resources, and other information on issues such as health, housing, education, emergency preparedness, immigration, and share questions, concerns, and stories about issues they care about. There are also opportunities to do so.
At least 4,000 Adams County residents are Hispanic. The Latino community is growing faster than any other population group in the county. Information about important health, community activities, education, legal, and other resources is often limited by language barriers and lack of access to local news outlets. Spanish text messages provide a low-cost and effective way to send important news and information to your community members. Not everyone has a home computer or an e-mail address, but almost everyone has a mobile phone.
For more information about the Pasa La Voz program, please contact Chuck Stangor at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org or Donate Gardner at dvbgardner@gmail.com.
Freelance reporter Donato Gardner came to Gettysburg in 2021 from Montgomery County, Maryland. Donate, a former linguist turned legal professional, recently retired from the corporate world and is passionate about supporting new communities in a variety of ways. An immigrant born, raised and educated in Germany, Donate still maintains a strong connection to the German language as a freelance writer and translator. Donate is an active musician and has made his new home in Gettysburg a place where he can host his concerts for traveling musicians and local artists in need. Donato and her husband have two daughters and three grandchildren.
