As families prepare to return to school, the focus is often on what the kids need for the year ahead. But on Friday, an event on Bailey Avenue focused on the needs of all household members.
Community Access Services held the event, handing out over 600 backpacks full of supplies. There were over a dozen vendors sharing resources, rapid HIV testing, pet supplies, food, haircuts, bounce houses, health information and more.
Parent Brianna LoCurto, who was attending with her three daughters ages eight, six and three, said the event was beneficial for her family.
“This year has been really hard, financial hardships and all that stuff, and me being out of work due to almost a meniscus tear," LoCurto said. "It's been hard with the whole school supplies part of that. So, this is very beneficial, very, very helpful in the long run.”
LoCurto said she appreciated the event had a lot of resources focused on parents, too.
"There are things in the city that I didn't even know were happening," LoCurto said. "Now I have opportunities to help my friends out, too, that I know that actually need some sort of [these] resources."
Kim Brown, the executive director of Community Access Services, said the goal was to make resources available to everyone in the community in a fun and holistic way.
“Our goal is to address the entire needs of the whole family, and we have to look at it from a holistic perspective," Brown said. "So, we have a variety of events here today for adults and children. We have bounce houses. There's popcorn. There's ice cream, and parents or adults, anyone over the age of 18 years old, can receive a rapid HIV test here today on site.”
Brown encouraged the community to visit the organization during the week if they missed the event. The organization offers rapid HIV testing, a food pantry, connections to other community services, healthcare referrals, counseling and more.
