Hundreds Keep It Healthy At The Q

by LISA REISMAN The new haven independent

There were t‑shirts and button-downs and pullovers, dress pants and jeans and sweatpants, jackets and hoodies and windbeakers, each meticulously organized by size. There were shoes of every style and make. There were household items like cleansers and kitchenware, and personal care essentials like deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner.
None of it was for sale, including the food. At Saturday’s 12th annual Free Market and Health Fair just outside the Dixwell Community “Q” House, everything was, as advertised, free. 
The event was hosted by the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. 
“In the month leading to the event, we get donations from community members, chapter members,” said outgoing Delta Sigma chapter President Paula Irvin, as people browsed the racks in the shopping area amid lively music under a sun-drenched sky. “We sort, we organize, and we lay everything out to give everyone a real shopping experience.” 
“This is a way to give back to the community, and we’re all about community service,” said Epsilon Iota’s Ruel Dixon. Regarding the health fair, “we share the common goal of educating our community about health factors that affect Black and Brown people and giving them the information they need,” he said. 
Nancy Jordan, a soror in the New Haven chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, was straightening jackets on a rack. “I really wish I had this when I was growing up with a single mother,” said Jordan, before helping a man try on a jacket. 

First step to a job at Yale?

Over at the health fair, Fallon Thomas, community outreach and engagement manager for Yale’s New Haven Hiring Initiative, was encouraging a woman to sign up for a monthly newsletter that lists job openings at the university.
“There are so many benefits of being a Yale employee and this is about providing the information to understand how to find opportunities and where to apply,” she said. 
“There’s a stigma here around what Yale does, but I’m here to get around that stigma, and to show people the way to get a job with livable wages along with other benefits like scholarships for their children, reimbursement, a home ownership program.” 
Yvette Strong, a recruitment project manager for the Yale School of Medicine, was asking people to sign up for clinical trials on sickle cell, heart disease, and obesity, among other conditions. “Does MS run in your family?” one flyer read. “Now you can be part of the cure.” 
Given that so much of medical research is based on studies of white people, “it’s important for African Americans and Latinos to understand the importance of their participation in clinical trials,” Strong said. “They fill out a profile, telling us what they’re interested in, and then we try to find studies for them, and go from there. It’s about connecting.” 

Umma Minhaz sharing tips on sugar intake with Kenny Joseph.

Past tables for National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Elm City and Pyramid Family Dental Care, Community Health Network’s Umma Minhaz was showing Kenny Joseph, an Amistad Academy fifth grader, how to calculate the amount of sugar in a bottle of chocolate milk. (There are 39 grams, which equates to 10 teaspoons of sugar, which, he learned, can lead to health problems down the line.) 
“I’m going to start checking the label,” Kenny, his face painted by Lady J, promised.
“They did it nice,” said longtime New Havener Clare Moore who was exiting. “There’s a lot there and a lot of people can get what they need, and that’s a good thing.”