Culture & Community | Fair Haven | Youth Arts Journalism Initiative | Public Health
Top: Grandmaster George Logan (second to right) with students from demonstration. Bottom: The crowd. Naiyanna White Photos.
On a brisk, partly cloudy afternoon in the parking lot of the Fair Haven Community Health Care, Grandmaster George Logan and six of his students were ready to demonstrate some of the work they’ve done at the Connecticut School of Survival. Using punch paddles and escrima sticks, they moved through a few drills and training exercises.
Logan and his students were among representatives of 30 different organizations at the nonprofit’s second annual Community Fiesta, launched after months of planning. With over 200 attendees, the event has continued to grow, due to the number of programs and community partners that signed on to help with the event.
“It’s a community event. We are all part of the community here. We take turns and we join in, do what we all can,” said Manan Dave, FHCHC chief of pharmacy services.
Logan, who has been teaching martial arts in New Haven since 1973, said the school's reason for attendance was to reach some of Fair Haven’s youth attending the Fiesta. His older students are all currently in or have recently graduated from college, in undergraduate and graduate programs.
“The kids are so much smarter these days and so it [martial arts] allows us to reach them at an earlier stage and it gives them their own mindset,” he said. “They’re not conformists, you know? They’re not following the pack of people who might be doing something wrong.”
Top: Site medic director, Logan Stern. Bottom: JROTC member chalking alongside attendees.
Benefitting the youth was a particularly important goal of the Fiesta. Among the chalk drawings, books aplenty from the New Haven Free Public Library’s Readmobile, and arts and crafts was Logan Stern, the site medical director for the clinic's school-based health centers.
Stern, in between blowing bubbles to children and handing out coloring pages, briefly explained how school-based health centers serve children.
“We make sure kids are up to date on their physicals and shots so that they can be compliant with school and state requirements,” she said “If a child is sick, they would otherwise get sent home to go see their medical provider. Instead, if they’re enrolled in the school-based health center, they can come and see us at school.”
Stern said the clinic provides care to schools in New Haven and East Haven specifically, and that having the resource available greatly helps attendance for students.
Hillhouse JROTC members Aniya Harris, Adrineysha Cotto, Lanaya Lewis, and Zelena Sanchez.
Next to Stern's table was a tent of arts and crafts, chalk drawings, and a rowing game, all facilitated by members of Hillhouses’ Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program. From the beginning of the event to the end, members Aniya Harris, Adrineysha Cotto, Lanaya Lewis, and Zelena Sanchez, set and cleaned things up, teaching people how to use the team walking boards. In their spare time between setting up and cleaning, JROTC members created chalk art with attendees.
The group’s members, consisting of sophomores and seniors, have all been in JROTC for more than a year. Some cited building friendships as the reason they joined. Others were inspired by siblings who had previously been through the program.
Dahiana Pijuan was standing near the JROTC with her three children. Despite being from the Beaver Hills area, she comes to Fair Haven for most of her shopping. She heard about the event from the Community Action Agency of New Haven.
Pijuan said the event was a great way to “help get kids out of the house and meet members of the community” while also giving people a chance to learn about health and wellness, and get a flu shot, something U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro would also do later in the afternoon.
Top: Isla Otero (at the far right) and volunteers. Bottom: Janet Brown and Jenitza Irizarry.
Nearby, the Yale School of Medicine’s dermatology department and Yale New Haven Hospital's Breast and Cervical Cancer Program were placed next to each other. Both tables gave out flyers, samples, and information on different types of cancer.
Isla Otero, associate director of clinical operations, has been with Yale University’s dermatology department for 12 years and said she wants to bring “awareness to the community of the importance of sunscreen.” Otero said she tries to refute the myth that those with darker skin can’t get melanoma by telling them about Bob Marley.
“Skin cancer doesn’t say because you have a darker complexion, I’m going to only affect these people. It affects everyone across the world.”
At another table, outreach coordinator Jenitza Irizarry and community health navigator Janet Brown spoke to attendees on breast cancer detection and awareness services. One of their most prominent services is Yale New Haven Health’s mobile mammography unit, which provides 3D mammography and breast ultrasounds through a mobile van.
“We provide services to anyone who requests our services. We do not charge anyone for the mobile unit as long as they have a list of patients,” Irizarry said.
While October is breast cancer awareness month, Irizarry argued breast cancer awareness should be raised year-round.
“You want to spread awareness because the numbers are going high with breast cancer, and the numbers of women being diagnosed are going lower and lower.”
Brown shared that sentiment, adding, “We want to be in an area where women are rarely or never screened, and make sure our information is distributed in this neighborhood.
Top: Shytana Floyd, Acting Director of Community Planning for the city of New Haven Fire Department. Bottom: Floyd pointing to a UL label on a smoke detector.
October is also fire prevention month. The Fiesta was briefly graced with the presence of a firetruck. Shytana Floyd, acting director of community planning for the New Haven Fire Department, was towards the lot entrance, informing partygoers about fire safety, specifically regarding electrical devices.
On the table was a powerstrip with burn marks, part of another still plugged in. Floyd then picked up a fire detector the NHFD had to confiscate because it wasn’t tested by any nationally recognized testing laboratory.
“We tell residents to buy it from a reputable place, like Home Depot or Lowes because it has to say UL or ETL. Those are the indications that you’re buying something in the United States that is permitted and approved for fire safety.” UL and ETL labels verify a product has undergone testing by UL Solutions, or Intertek’s Electrical Testing Laboratories, and has met national electrical and safety standards.