Brooklyn Center’s Health Fair Will Feature Mural Prep and 5K
Brooklyn Center’s Community Health Fair is Saturday, August 16 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Brooklyn Center Community Schools.
“The city as a whole really values health and wellness, and wellness for all, which is our theme this year,” said City of Brooklyn Center Community Engagement Coordinator Armando Oster. “That’s really really important for the City of Brooklyn Center to offer opportunities for our local people here to get things for free where they are.”
The fair is a chance for attendees to participate in free health and wellness screenings, find out about community and regional health services and resources, and even participate in a 5K color run and walk, put on by Sports and Leadership Academy.
“It’s been a tremendous blessing to partner with the City of Brooklyn Center,” said Frankie Mieman with Sports and Leadership Academy. “The idea behind the Mental Health Awareness Run/Walk is just to shine a light on the mental aspects. When it comes to the athletic component, a lot of people focus on the physical aspect, but not the mental aspect. So having the opportunity to shine light and the process our youth go through, it’s just been a blessing to continue that partnership with the city.”
The 5K kicks off the day’s festivities with an 11:00 a.m. start.
Attendees also have the chance to weigh in and participate in planning the next city mural, which will be displayed at the Brooklyn Center Community Center.
“We have so many people attend that normally we wouldn’t be able to capture their voices,” said City of Brooklyn Center Artist in Residence Raquel Diaz Goutierez. “We have been at other events but the health fair is well-attended, so it’s really important to us to have that and to be there and collect these voices.”
Goutierez is responsible for the mural that went up on the side of Brooklyn Center Elementary School and another at the city’s liquor store.
“Art de-stresses people, it provides empathy, it just provides healing aspects to the community,” she said. “We want to make sure that for this mural that will be installed at the community center, that we gather these voices because everybody carries a different story and, so, Brooklyn Center being one of the most diverse cities in the state of Minnesota, having that community input is vital for this work.”
