Marymount Health Fair

Written by: Ruth Freifeld

The Office of Wellness, Prevention, and Education helps students make proper decisions for their overall health by providing support and useful resources. One event that highlights their efforts is the Health and Wellness Fair. The Health and Wellness Fair featured seven additional vendors this year compared to 2022. The Office of Wellness held the fair on March 29th. Last year, there were 25 vendors that participated. Some of the vendors included the National Alliance of Mental Health, to help spread awareness of mental health, and Title IX, to share the importance of consent.

Brianna Simmons, chair of the Marymount CARE Team and a case manager within the office said this is the event’s second year. Simmons said that last year the fair introduced the office to the campus and brought awareness to what the department offers.

The goal of the fair this year was to build relationships with Arlington and Marymount communities and to make the Marymount community aware of all of the resources available to them, said Simmons. To do this, Simmons stated that, “We’re bringing in more vendors, we’re getting more resources for students, faculty, and staff to use. We’re letting our outside community partners know of the great work that we’re doing and the great students we have on campus and knowing how much we need them to help with our student’s mental health and wellbeing.” The Office of Wellness, Prevention, and Education, holds weekly and annual events, including two large events: the Wellness Day in the fall and the Wellness Fair in the spring, Simmons said. They are trying to be more intentional with the events, to meet students’ needs, stated by Simmons. 

Aprile Preller, community health director in the Office of Wellness, said about 200 people attended the fair, which was similar to last year. Preller said at least 128 people visited a minimum of 10 tables. Some of the booths that were recurring from last year were the Truth Initiative to help stop smoking and vaping, and Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative offered Narcan Training. Preller said that over 100 participants were trained for proper Narcan use. Additions this year included the Arlington Massage School, which offered five-minute massages, and Arlington Police Department, which offered activities to prevent drinking and driving.

The club SpeakUp participated both this year and last year. Club spokesperson and president, Angelica Dalton, said, “SpeakUp is the first mental health advocacy club on campus. We work to break the stigma of mental health and try to help people be more open or know how to find the recourse when they need help.”

Dalton said that both this year and last year, they had de-stressing activities at the SpeakUp booth. The activity this year was making tie-dye shirts, and Dalton said, “The booth was more engaging this year because they had a hands-on activity where people could sit and talk to us.” Dalton said. SpeakUp also Club promoted its April 16 suicide prevention walk. Overall, the fair was a great success for engaging Marymount students and the community in a positive and educational way.