Carteret Elementary School held its first Wellness Fair on Saturday morning, Jan. 11, in the school gym with about a dozen health care providers on hand.
The event was sponsored by the school’s Cultural Committee and coordinated by sixth-grade special education teacher Gianna Allegretti. She cited a language barrier among the Carteret population as one reason for the event. For some families, transportation can also be an impediment for obtaining help, she added.
The school had sent home a flyer and word was also put out on the school social media platforms. Consequently, although it had snowed two inches during the night, mothers, some with kids in tow, came in through the back door, propped open with a traffic cone, to check out the vendors.
“Bringing the people here has been most useful,” Allegretti said. “We have a lot of families that don’t know what Bloomfield has to offer.”
Paula Peikes, the township director of social work and Regina Cora, a Carteret teacher who asked her own medical provider to attend, also pitched in.
“It was very easy,” Allegretti said. “Everyone was helpful in reaching out to vendors. It wasn’t a one-person job. We also have Tony’s Kitchen and the Montclair YMCA. The YMCA has an after-care program at the school. A group of at least 10 of our kids use it.”
Tony’s Kitchen is the food ministry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Montclair.
“Even though we’re in a larger community, our Carteret community is extremely diverse and needs a little more support to access information,” she continued.
The school nurse, Marlene Stabile, was there. “I wasn’t aware of some of these newer services,” she said. “These vendors are like different fingers on a hand.”
Maya Harlow, the Essex County health director and its health officer, was at the table with the Essex County Office of Public Health Management team. Harlow said the county provides all children with the opportunity to be vaccinated. This included uninsured children. Two white privacy screens were assembled behind the table. Hydah Kilonzo, a registered nurse, administered the vaccines. Children needed immunization and the county service was free, she said.
NJ SNAP had an information table. SNAP is the acronym for supplemental nutrition assistance program. At this table was Sabree Brown, the SNAP navigator for RWJ Barnabus Health. She was assisting the county with processing applications. The partnership between NJ SNAP and RWJ Barnabus Health, she said, was launched this month because of the backlog of applications.
“The problem is a lack of documentation,” she said. “A person will need an identification, a Social Security card, proof of residency, which can be a rent bill,
and if they are a student, proof of enrollment. And if there’s a language barrier, no problem. I have a Martti Interpretor.”
There was a video monitor on a stand near her. She said there were translators standing by to help and turned on the machine.
“Suppose you only spoke Spanish,” she said and pressed “Spanish” on the screen.
Russian was among the other choices. The screen glowed and a middle-aged man appeared. He asked Sabree what needed to be translated and she told him she was only demonstrating the system. He was not in the United States, he said when asked, and the weather was sunny where he was.
The next table was the Mental Health Association of New Jersey. At this station was Laverne William. She said the catch-phrase was “There is no health without mental health.”
“If I’m talking to a faith community, they may say all they have to do is pray,” she said. “You can pray, but you can’t pray away some illnesses. There’s nothing wrong with taking meds. It shouldn’t be either-or.”
Care Spine and Sports, which handles all areas of the body, had a table as did Tony’s Kitchen which comes to the school on Wednesdays with food baskets and
the same on Saturdays to the Bloomfield Public Library.
The Cultural Committee is composed of five teachers and the guidance counselor and is responsible for creating programs of diversity, inclusion and equity.. In addition to Allegritti, committee members are Marissa Acosta, guidance counselor; Regina Cory; Nicole Couto; Jeannette O’Rourke and Kristin Sapnar. Another Wellness Fair is planned for the spring.
Fair connects people to services added by Daniel Jackovino on
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