The second annual River District Health Fair was held last week in Sacramento. It offered unhoused residents in the Sacramento neighborhood north of downtown free screenings, showers, employment and housing help and connections to health services.
With her second child on the way in a few months, 24-year-old Tykia Morgan of Sacramento said health care will be critical for her growing family.
Morgan lives at a local shelter and said signing up for coverage can be complicated, but being able to speak directly with providers at the event made all the difference.
“It can be frustrating. I tried to go through Wellspace, and I looked it up on my own, but it was just so confusing,” she said. “It was just so easy to just see all the tents lined up. You can walk to them and ask your questions, you don’t have to give them all this information, they just know what you need already.”
The event offered everything from free STI screenings to blood pressure checks and vaccinations. It also offered help to unhoused residents who own pets.
Charles French, who had his Chihuahua puppy Chewy vaccinated at the event, said he’d like to see more services helping Sacramento’s unhoused community.
“There should be more places to plug in and get your phone charged, more showers, so people have an opportunity to get back on your feet,” he added.
Charles French had his Chihuahua puppy, Chewy, vaccinated at the health fair. He said he’d like to see more events and services helping Sacramento’s unhoused.Chris Nichols/CapRadio
Joseph Pacheco is chief operating officer with the nonprofit First Step Communities, which helped organize the event.
He said the goal of the event was to break down barriers to health services for a population that often struggles to receive care.
“They frequently don’t have phones, they don’t have access to the internet. They’re relying sometimes just on word of mouth information that isn’t always accurate,” he said. “And this gives people the opportunity to go right to the resource, make connections, maybe even make appointments and get services scheduled for them right now.”
First Step Communities also operates the North A Street homeless shelter in the River District.
Contact CapRadio news reporter Chris Nichols at [email protected]
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today
