VERO BEACH — Community volunteers, health providers and service organizations linked up at The Source on Saturday for an inaugural Indian River County Health Department initiative entitled Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
Formulated by Joan Gentgen from the Health Department, the event served to provide health care screenings, resource information and donations to homeless and near homeless individuals, while also offering a chance to test the Indian River County VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) network.
Born out of discussions between Gentgen at the Health Department, Dale Justice from IRC Emergency Services and Eve Balance of the United Way, they enlisted help from Sonya Morrison of The Source to tie it all together.
“We felt that if we really wanted to try out the process of registering, training and getting goods, services and volunteers to an assigned location, we should really use their time to benefit those most in need in our community,” said Gentgen.
Throughout the morning, volunteers checked in to the Volunteer Reception Center at the United Way where they were assigned jobs and bussed over to The Source to help sort donations, hand out informational materials or help out in the kitchen.
Homeless individuals attending the event were offered health care options such as vision screening by New Vision Eye Center, dental screening by Treasure Coast Community Health, foot care education, glucose screening and blood pressure checks by the Medical Reserve Corps, and HIV tests by the Health Department.
The Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County offered free screenings and vaccinations, and informational materials were provided by the 211 Help Line and the American Red Cross.
Approximately 40 attendees visited each of the organizations and had cards stamped to be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Wall-Mart gift card, while others opted to visit only a few.
“We gave out 25 vaccinations for rabies and distemper for dogs and cats,” said the Humane Society’s Ilka Daniel, who noted that the money to do so came from an ASPCA grant. “We actually saw seven or eight kitties today which is great.”
They also scheduled future sterilizations for about 10 pets, many of which had already had litters.
“We were really excited to see that,” said Daniel. “A lot of these people have lost everything. Giving up their pets is not an option.”
“We’ve never had real health screenings; nothing to this extent and together all in one place,” said Morrison. “Our clientele can be hesitant about getting tested. Sometimes they feel it’s better not knowing that kind of thing. We told clients to take a walk around and ask questions and to get screened or not. It was up to them. For me it was particularly important for the HIV screening. All of a sudden, it was not such a big deal for them since everyone was doing it.”
Morrison remarked that the feedback she was getting indicated that the clients were very grateful.
“It was a way to show them – The Source isn’t the only one that cares about you,” she said. “The whole community cares, and this was a way to show that.”
