From vaping, the cost of school supplies to cellphone policies, the WTOP team is studying up on hot-button topics in education across the D.C. region. Follow on air and online in our series “WTOP Goes Back to School” this August and September.
A Virginia organization that’s known for early childhood education is also helping to make sure kids start the school year healthy.
The Campagna Center is hosting a health fair for under-resourced families in Alexandria, Virginia, offering hearing, dental, vision and other services.
Tammy Mann, president and CEO of the Center, said the goal is pretty simple: “Help support making sure our kids can enter school with the physicals and health support that they need”
Mann said her agency works with about 400 families a year. Some 100 will be served in the health fair that runs through Aug. 16.
She said the fair is made possible through several partnerships with organizations in the D.C. area. Partners include Neighborhood Health, a local income-based clinic that assists families with health and dental needs, and First Shift, an organization that helps parents and families know their legal rights in the workplace.
Insurance provider Anthem, children’s dental facility Young Smiles and registered dietician Rochelle Tann are also among the event’s partners.
Mann said most of the under-resourced families in Alexandria would not have access to this kind of medical care without a health fair like this one.
“For sure it would be difficult for families to access the support they need,” she said.
Families who attend can also learn about accessing ongoing health care through insurance programs, with enrollment available on site. Mann said the fair can also help families connect to a program in Alexandria called The Basics.
“The basics is all about providing parents with children under 3 access to text messages on a regular basis that gives them ideas on how to support their child,” Mann said.
Campagna has been doing this type of work in the Alexandria community for 80 years.
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