Village Fest Brings Fun, Food, Health Care Resources to Atlantic City’s Showboat Hotel on Oct. 5
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY — The Sustainable Health & Wellness Village Festival, of Village Fest, arrives in Atlantic City where residents will be treated to an assortment of free health care services, along with food and entertainment at the Showboat Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
The Village Fest, of SHWV Tour is a statewide inter-generational community-based health and wellness festival that brings together youth, seniors and families. SHWV is an evidence-based model informed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Determinants of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Action Health Framework.
Community leader and elected officer Thelma Witherspoon is the Atlantic City ambassador. She told Front Runner New Jersey that the Village Fest offers a rare opportunity for residents to receive these kinds of health care services for free.
The services include clinical screenings, health education, resources and access to health insurance.
“The goal of the SHWV Festival is to advance health equity and improve positive public health outcomes in Black and Brown communities in New Jersey by providing participants with ready access to healthcare and community resources within a culturally relevant, festival-like atmosphere designed to promote meaningful engagements between communities of color and local/regional providers,” organizers said on their website.
The Village Fest first stopped in New Brunswick at the Alice Jennings Archibald Park on Sept. 14 and then in Newark at the Branch Brook Park at Prudential Convert Grove on Sept. 21.
Village Fest is put on by CareSparc Community Connections, where Keith DaCosta serves as the executive director and John Hinds as the president and co-founder. CareSparc Community Connections is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to collaborate with underserved communities, service providers, and thought leaders on effective solutions to advance health equity and improve positive public health outcomes.
Village Fest has held more than 700 health education sessions to communities of color around the state and has distributed more than 105,000 fresh foodstuffs and essential foods to residents.
“Over its nine years of operation, the SHWV has served over 43,000 residents in underserved and strongly impacted communities,” organizers said.
“Its innovative, evidence-based model integrates acute care services and clinical screenings with wellness education and lifestyle activities designed to address the full spectrum of determinants of overall well-being.”
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