- The Ingham County Health Department's Back to School Health Fair prepares children for the upcoming school year.
- Neighbors took advantage of the free and reduced cost services.
- The fair is part of the National Health Center Week celebration.
The Ingham County Health Department is keeping our neighborhood kids healthy. I’m your neighborhood reporter Ava Zanglin at the Back to School Health Fair, preparing students for a successful school year.
As the school year approaches, Wednesday's National Health Center Week event highlighted the crucial importance of student health.
“We just wanted to provide parents kind of a one stop shop for them to be able to get everything done that they need for their kiddos,” said Lisa Chambers.
The Ingham County Health Department provided just that, giving parents and children an opportunity to check all the boxes before the first day of school.
“For kindergarten entry, things like vision and hearing screenings, things like dental, are now state requirements,” said Chambers.
Parents like Angela Walters brought their kids for free and reduced cost, hearing and vision screenings, dental assessments, immunizations, lead screenings, and car seat safety checks.
“Finding out that there were like resources to get her going and ready for school, upon being here just a few days, it was a wonderful opportunity to get her into primary care, which is so important,” said Angela Walters.
Walters said life gets busy, causing check-ups to sometimes go overlooked.
“You know, your children needing vision care, especially when they’re young, you know, you don’t know if they need like vision assistance or hearing assistance, sometimes until it’s too late,” said Walters.
Walters moved to Michigan, from Texas, just a few days ago and is taking advantage of the resources available to her and her family.
“Something that I've heard like Michigan is really good with taking care of, you know, the community and providing resources. And the children, you know, they’re our future right? So we have to make sure that they have everything they need,” said Walters.
Walters stressed the importance of starting the school year on a strong note, and that taking control of your health early is just the first step.
In Lansing, I’m Ava Zanglin, Fox 47.
