Santa Clara’s very engaged, all-volunteer, Senior Advisory Commission (SCSAC) partnered for a second year with the City of Santa Clara to organize a health and wellness fair for community members 50 and older and caregivers. The May 18 fair at Fremont Park adjacent to the Senior Center was even wider in scope this year with 41 exhibitors, doubling last year’s number.
“It’s a one-stop resource for seniors to get information on health, safety, transportation, everything,” said SCSAC member Grant McCauley, who coordinated the fair again this year, working with the Senior Center and the Parks and Recreation Department. “People can find helpful resources and fun things to do.”
The service providers were grouped in pods of related resources: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, and community and health services.
Seniors could get a free health snapshot: Senior Center nurses checked blood pressure. Breathe California checked lung function. Kaiser Permanente’s mobile health clinic staff gave full-body skin cancer check-ups in its health van. The Lions Club tested hearing and vision in its mobile unit.
One of the most popular stops was for the $5 hot BBQ sandwich, subsidized by a $500 grant from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. Hungry seniors waited in long lines to buy their lunch before sitting under a shady tree and listening to live music by the Kapalakiko Hawaiian Band and by DJ Steve Edwards.
“I’m floating today because these are very high-caliber service providers, and this is a way to show off the Senior Center at its best to the community,” said Mallory von Kugelgen, Senior Center Health and Wellness Coordinator.
“Health and wellness in the community is the number one priority,” said James Teixeira, Director of Parks and Recreation. “We’ll do anything we can do to support that.”
SCSAC chairperson Barbara “Bobbbi” A. Estrada wanted to get the word out to seniors that they can attend and participate in the general meetings of the commission, usually the fourth Monday of each month at 10 a.m. at the Senior Center, 1303 Fremont St. The commission has seven volunteer members and acts in an advisory capacity to the City Council. Check the City website for information: www.santaclaraca.gov.