Health fair will inform Latinos

A service organization is holding a health fair in an attempt to bring health care to the Latino community in Columbia County.

The Asociacion Latina de Servicios del CSRA Inc., a nonprofit organization serving the Latino community, has planned Dia de la Mujer Latina, a fair in Grovetown for Spanish-speaking people.

The fair is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Lions Club building behind the Kiddie Park on Old Wrightsboro Road. Visitors should follow the dirt road through the Kiddie Park to the Lions Club building at the end.

"There's kind of a Latino community out there, so we are trying to go where they are," said Nancy Kappus Schear, the fair organizer and an association director.

Schear said the fair will include screenings for chronic diseases, including blood pressure and diabetes; children's physicals; and information about food stamps, HIV/AIDS, the Department of Family and Children Services, lupus, the federal WIC program and prostate health. Schear said she hopes dental screenings also will be available.

Representatives from the Columbia County Health Department will be on hand, and information about Medicaid and Peachcare for Kids will be available.

The fair is free and open to any Spanish-speaking resident or others of Hispanic descent.

Schear said that for Spanish-speakers in this area, language is a barrier when it comes to health care. They might not have or be eligible for health insurance, and usually are not familiar with the health care system. The recent negative attention on immigration tends to keep Spanish-speaking people from pursuing their health care options.

"They are really frightened to talk to official agencies," Schear said. "They are kind of frightened to go in and learn about things that are available to them."

The fair will be conducted by volunteer doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, Schear said.

The association has offered two previous health fairs for the Latino community in Augusta. As with the previous fairs, no one will be concerned about a person's immigration status.

"We don't ask," Schear said.

For more information, call her at (706) 860-1066.