WellAware holding Health Streets, Healthy People event on Saturday at Washington Park

This Saturday, a community health partnership will host a three-hour event at Washington Park in Charlottesville called Healthy Streets, Healthy People. This is the second year for the event. 

“We’re looking at making all Charlottesville neighborhoods more livable and that comes down to street health in terms of people feeling safe to walk in their neighborhoods,” said Betsy Peyton is the director of WellAWARE.

WellAWARE is a coalition consisting of the Primary Care Partnership of the University of Virginia, the Charlottesville Free Clinic, and Central Virginia Health Services. The group works to increase health care outcomes in neighborhoods with higher rates of chronic disease and shorter life expectancies. 

“It’s a very close sort of person to person low-tech model of connecting with people, seeing what their barriers to health care are and helping them overcome them,” Peyton said. 

That could mean driving people to their medical appointments or taking them to the food bank or the pharmacy. 

“We will stay with people at their medical appointments if they want us to to make sure they understand what’s said and that they’re heard,” Peyton said. 

The Healthy Streets, Healthy People event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. will be a chance for attendees to meet with health care professionals. 

“We’ll have groups from mental health organizers, youth diversion activities,” Peyton said. “We’re going to have all of the 911 agencies there giving out free fentanyl test strips and NARCAN to the community.” 

Another emphasis will be on environmental health so there will be representatives of other groups promoting bicycles, shade trees, and pedestrian safety. There will be 55 booths in all. 

But Peyton said a lot of the goal is for people to just have fun. 

“Free food from food trucks, field day activities for children, gardening activities where you can take home a vegetable or a seedling that you plant in a pot,” Peyton said. “There’s just something for everyone. We’ll have great raffle prizes and it just turns out to be a really fun day. We have a DJ, a popular DJ coming.” 

The event is co-hosted by Move2HealthEquity and sponsored by the UVA Health University Medical Center and Sentara.

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