On Feb. 10, the Colton’s San Salvador Parish Ministry of Social Justice and Charity hosted a resource fair to help support the needs of their community. Gleidy Vasquez and Martha V. Copado from the ministry said that this event has been a long-time in the making and hope to continue offering the resource fair in the future.
“In our community there’s a lot of people in need,” Vasquez said. “After we saw the needs of our community, and with the support of the priest, Father Moises [Henriquez de Paz], we decided to start this resource fair. We tried to cover the needs of the people.”
The fair was filled with several booths from various organizations that came out to provide their resources and information. The organizations included El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center and they provided financial education, assistance for applying for Medi-Cal regardless of age and immigration status, resume education, and distributed free COVID tests. TODEC Legal Center was also at the resource fair and provided a free immigration workshop and legal consultations. Representatives of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was also present to help attendees file income taxes. SafeLink Wireless distributed free telephones to eligible people. Primerica provided economic information on investments. Lastly, several health organizations were at the fair providing health screenings and information. The Institute for Public Strategies offered environmental prevention of alcohol and drugs, the California Health Collaborative offered information for people with tobacco addiction. The Catalina Research Institute offered free medical examinations, including cholesterol and blood pressure screenings.
“We had planned to do this kind of activity last year, but unfortunately we didn’t have the opportunity to do anything,” Copado said. “After talking and planning things, we tried to find the bridges to find the resources because we have the feeling that we want to help and support people. So thank goodness we started to have a lot of doors open. Once they knew we were having this fair, they wanted to come join us and bring their services to the community, too.”
The Ministry of Social Justice and Charity at San Salvador parish thanks all the organizations that provided resources for this event and they also thank their pastor Rev. Moises Henriquez de Paz, F.M.M. for his continued support of their ministry. Copado says that the Ministry will continue to try to provide help for the community all in the name of God.