With live bands, tug-of-war contests and kids running around with painted faces at Chase Field, many wouldn’t guess that Saturday’s event was a day to provide health and wellness services to low-income families.
While her husband received a dental check-up, Jean Augustine held her one-year-old son as a volunteer cut his hair. They had just finished picking out new clothes.
“When I buy clothes, I tend to buy for (my son) or my husband, but I never buy for myself since we’re both unemployed and living with the in-laws,” Augustine said. “Money is very tight.”
HopeFest Phoenix, a one-day free healthcare and social services event, was the largest of its kind in Maricopa County. More than 10,000 people attended the second event hosted by CityServe Arizona, many of whom sought clothes and haircuts.
Augustine, an East Valley mother who has had trouble finding work since the birth of her son, heard about the event a few days before and said she had never been to anything like it.
“It’s just one of those things that people just don’t put at the top of their priority list,” Great Clips volunteer Catherine Hill said. “If they have to be buying food, they’re not buying haircuts, so we do whatever we can do to help out.”
Hill was one of 75 volunteers from Great Clips locations across the Valley. They gave approximately 400 haircuts in the first hour and a half of the event.
CityServe’s mission for the event was to connect people in need with providers who can fulfill their needs in a festive environment, CityServe executive director Billy Thrall said. From job assistance to smoke alarm installation instructions, more than 150 organizations volunteered their services and information for long-term solutions to current problems.
“I was talking to this one kid and he’s got it rough, and I know that’s like 80 percent of the people here,” Phoenix College nursing student Jamie Lobianco said. “It gets to you that these people really do need help.”
Lobianco volunteered her time to help people who were seeking medical check-ups and vaccines, specifically for hepatitis and human papillomavirus.
The Susan G. Komen Phoenix affiliate was among several healthcare booths and provided information and resources for breast cancer screenings.
“We’re here as a resource to connect women and men with breast cancer screening and awareness, specifically those who are uninsured, underinsured or for some reason falling between the cracks,” said Sharon Kolb, Komen mission support specialist.
Awareness was a guiding principle of the event, as the Phoenix Children’s Hospital bike helmet giveaway demonstrated. The hospital planned to donate approximately 200 helmets to families in need.
Bike helmets decrease the risk of bicycle-related head injuries by 85 percent, according to the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Volunteers helped kids try on bike helmets until they found one that fit, a process that proved frustrating for one Phoenix family.
“You can’t ride your bike unless you find a helmet,” Priscilla Gessing said to her young daughter Vanessa who was complaining about the color of one of the many helmets she tried on. “It’s a safety hat, not a fashion hat.”
Within moments, Vanessa found a helmet that fit and walked away smiling with her family.
After covering all the bases inside, attendees were guided through the grocery line to the outdoor activities along Fourth Street, which included an inflatable play area for kids, live music, high-energy exercises and fresh produce giveaways.
Phoenix resident Beatrice Herron said she enjoyed the community’s presence at the event after she got a vision screening, new clothes and food.
“It’s good to see something good happening in Phoenix besides what’s on the news, so many bad things are happening,” she said. “It’s good to see all of us coming together.”
Contact the reporter at Kimberly.Garbacz@asu.edu
