United We Serve, Sustainable Moorestown and Cambridge Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center were expected to sponsor a community health festival last Saturday with community resources, mental wellness, free screenings and kids activities.
“There’s so much going on: There’s music, there’s this and that, dances going on on the side, and yes, they (people) can get a reading on their EKG (electrocardiogram)… They can sit there and get that taken care of,” Saima Bhutta, co-founder of United We Serve and board member of Sustainable Moorestown, said ahead of the event.
“ … We are bringing the holistic approach to health, so we’re going to get yoga and dances so that the community will enjoy that aspect as well.”
Bhutta worked on the event with Jessica Saracen, director of community relations for Marquis Health Services, and Saracen was happy to help educate the community. It’s also something very close to her heart and something that she’s interested in doing, especially when it deals with Cambridge.
“There’s so many instances where we find, in my world, that when patients have to come for sub-acute rehab, they have less than 24 hours to decide where they want to go, what each building (is), how they all differentiate from one another …” Saracen explained. “So any way that we can reach out to the community ahead of time and educate them on all the resources that they (Cambridge) have and all the services that we offer, that’s really what we look forward to doing.”
Among other things, Bhutta was looking forward to seeing how people react to the cultural aspect of the festival, specifically the music and dance, and she was hopeful that residents would get involved.
“I think relaxation is very important for the mind, so all these things will make us want to keep doing this and people will like it,” she explained. “Anything that will bring some comfort to others would be of joy (and) is the goal.”
Vendors were expected to include the Cherry Hill Free Clinic, the Burlington County Office on Aging, Bayada Home Health Care and other local health companies. There was also a Samba fitness demonstration and tours of Cambridge expected.
Saracen was hopeful the Moorestown community would learn what the facility has to offer, should anyone ever need its services, and to have confidence its resources.
“ … (People) can walk away with multiple different options for any kind of situations that may arise that are related to health care, so I look forward to people having the opportunity to meet with different vendors in the health-care industry …” she pointed out.
“Even if they don’t need the services now, you never know in the future when it may come up, so even to be able to take home some collateral, some pamphlets, just to have and store away for the future, at least they’ll have those resources when they need them, should they need them.”
