The 16th Annual Portage Senior Health Fair took place at Woodland Park in the beginning of May, bringing out seniors from all over the Region. This health fair is designed to provide free health screening for senior citizens as well as other services and information on local businesses in the area all in one convenient place.
Click here to see more photos from the Portage Senior Health Fair!
“We have over 70 vendors here today giving advice and free items to the seniors who come in,” Lori Wilkie, Director of Marketing and Development at City of Portage said. “It’s a great opportunity for our seniors to learn more about what is available in the area to them and to take advantage of the free screenings.”
The main gymnasium in Woodland Park was filled to the brim with people. Vendors lined the room, offering free items, raffles, free screenings, food, and more. Seniors perused throughout the room, stopping to chat with a vendor here and there. In another room not too far away from the gymnasium at Woodland Park, free manicures and chair massages were being given by students of Don Roberts Beauty Schools and a massage therapist from the Duneland Family YMCA.
Many businesses make this event a priority as it’s one of the largest health fairs in the area. Here are great things that some of the business representatives had to say about the health fair.
“We love coming to the senior health fair,” Angela Boland, Symphony of Chesterton's Clinical Director of Business Development said. “We feel that this is perfect opportunity to spread the word about what Symphony of Chesterton is all about, as well as to meet seniors and network with other businesses that are similar to ours.”
“We are here because it’s part of our mission to reach out into the community,” Amber Zimmer, Healthy Living Director at the Portage Township YMCA said. “Seniors are an important part of the community, and we want to make sure that they are as healthy and as happy as they can be.”
“We try to give back to the community as much as we can and this is a great way to do it,” Chris Gulley, Instructor at Don Roberts Beauty Schools said. “We want to make our presence known in Porter County and for people to know that we provide services to individuals of all ages. The seniors who come in to Don Roberts are great and we love working with them.”
“The VNA has been a community-based organization for many years and we love serving Northwest Indiana,” Betsy Chinn, Community Liaison for the Visiting Nurses Association said. “Providing end-of-life care that gives individuals hope, comfort, and peace is very important and we want to continue to do that as well as help our seniors in other ways with our great programs. Being here allows us to let seniors learn about us and us to learn about them.”
Community Healthcare System’s St. Mary Medical Center was one of the sponsors for the event and they provided lunch to all of the attendees. They were there with multiple booths and ready to talk to any senior who was curious.
“St. Mary Medical Center cares about the health and well-being of everyone we serve,” Karin Woodside, Community Outreach Specialist for St. Mary Medical Center said. “And we want to make sure that the seniors of the region know that we are here for them. We’re offering lots of great services today right here at the health fair which is a great advantage for the attendees.”
“We’re excited to be here today at the health fair! FirstLight has a lot to offer the community and the main demographic that we serve is the elderly population,” Danielle Webb, Regional Care Coordinator for FirstLight HomeCare of Northwest Indiana said. “We have a raffle open today that gives the winner two free hours of service from FirstLight and that is an awesome deal!”
“Zounds is here to spread awareness about the importance of getting your hearing checked. Hearing health is not a priority for people and the average person waits seven to ten years to anything about a hearing problem,” Kevin Hand, owner of Zounds Hearing of Crown Point, Schererville, and Valparaiso said. “There is a stigma that surrounds hearing loss and people don’t like to admit that they have a problem. We’re here at the health fair to speak with area seniors and to help remove that stigma.”
“This health fair is a great opportunity to let our seniors know that they have options and that they can take charge of their health,” Dawn Griffin, Marketing Program Director for Life Care Center of the Willows said. “We’re here today to promote our peritoneal dialysis program and short term rehab.”
“NorthShore serves all ages and we want to make sure that the senior population gets as much attention as the rest of them,” Denise Carpenter, Lead Community Outreach Coordinator at NorthShore Health Centers said. “These people are parents and grandparents. It’s important that we take care of them like they took care of us.”
“We work very closely with the elderly population at Rittenhouse,” Judy Kukelka, Marketing Director of Rittenhouse Village at Portage said. “The services that we offer are so helpful to seniors and we love to meet people here and network with other businesses.”