Children participated in recreational activities at Armbrister Park as part of the Community Health and Education Fair in West Coconut Grove.

Years of seeing hundreds of patients with serious health conditions walk through the door of a medical facility in one of Miami’s poorest neighborhoods hasn’t caused Joyce Price to become insensitive.

The director of community involvement at Helen Bentley Family Health Center in West Coconut Grove, Price still gets frustrated by the many cases of uninsured patients who have waited too long to seek treatment for high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses.

So this past summer she came up with an idea: stage an event that would help West Grove and other area residents learn how to access the health resources and social services they need.

Price’s idea became reality on November 12 when the first Community Health and Education Fair was held at Armbrister Park in Coconut Grove.

Organized by the Historic Black Church Program–an initiative of the University of Miami School of Law’s Center for Ethics and Public Service (CEPS)–the fair was a tonic for an ailing community mired in high crime and unemployment rates and pocked in some places by vacant lots and rundown apartment buildings.

“Our clinic has been working in the West Grove for a few years,” said Meg Kelsey, a third-year UM law student and CEPS fellow. “It’s been a challenge to build trust in the community. This fair was an excellent way to be visible and make connections.”

Kelsey and other CEPS fellows orchestrated the event, collaborating with nonprofits such as Breakthrough Miami, an organization for at-risk middle and high school students that sent almost 400 kids to the Saturday fair.

While health was the primary focus, the day began with a community clean-up. Work gloves in hand, groups of residents, young and old, assembled early at Armbrister Park, fanning out in all directions on a mission to rid the neighborhood of litter. They scooped up beer cans and bottles, paper and plastic lids, filling their trash bags until they nearly burst wide open.

After clean-up efforts, residents returned to the park, where nurses from the Bentley clinic administered free medical screenings and nonprofits gave out information on health and social services.

Representatives from the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office talked to youngsters about safety, and parents received education rights counseling.

Youngsters played basketball, flag football, soccer, and other games.

Student volunteers from Ransom Everglades and Carrollton School as well as students from other schools and colleges at UM pitched in.

University of Miami librarians even set up a booth at the fair, speaking to residents about the importance of recording family and community history.

With many West Grove residents being uninsured or underinsured, the free health screenings were among the most important of the day’s activities.

“Every school does not have a health clinic, so many children have never had their blood pressure taken,” said Price.

She noted the hundreds of children who participated in recreational activities and received blood pressure screenings, likening the fair to a poster event for first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to end childhood obesity.

“The children were fascinated by the idea that blood pressure and weight coincide with body mass index,” Price said. “We need to keep the awareness going.”

UM law professor and CEPS director Anthony Alfieri said the goal is to do just that. The fair, he said, was just one example of the many outreach efforts that will continue to be performed by the Historic Black Church Program, an endeavor to improve conditions in the West Grove through a partnership with 13 local churches. The program also includes an oral history project about houses of worship; legal aid referrals; and seminars on the rights and entitlements of children, the elderly, tenants, homeowners, and at-risk families.

“Going forward in 2012,” explained Alfieri, “we will continue to expand our Education Rights Initiative in partnership with the Coconut Grove Ministerial Alliance and other affiliated black churches in the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County and in collaboration with the FIU Education Rights Clinic, public and private schools, nonprofit social service organizations, and University of Miami undergraduate and graduate programs.”–RJ