Nearly a dozen vocational nursing students from American Career College-Los Angeles showed up early and eager to help at the South Bay Housing and Health Resource Fair this August.
Armed with stethoscopes and blood pressure arm cuffs, the VN students interacted with the community, local resource professionals and other healthcare volunteers at the fair, which was organized by the Harbor Interfaith Services at the Stillman Sawyer Family Service Center.
At the fair, the students were seated next to Rafael Garcia, the community outreach manager for Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro, a Catholic non-profit hospital in the area. ACC-Los Angeles Student Services specialist Brenda Clydesdale said after speaking with the group for a few minutes, Garcia soon asked for their assistance.
“He enjoyed the professionalism and personalities of our students so much that he asked if we could have two of them sit at his table,” Clydesdale said. “The resource fair organizer also reached out to me afterward to tell me how much she appreciated ACC for providing our support and is looking forward to the next time we can partner with them.”
Harbor Interfaith Services provides support and assistance to the homeless, working poor, and LGBT community to achieve self-sufficiency by providing support services including shelter, transitional housing, food, job placement, advocacy, childcare, education and life-skills training.
“Our students will be providing healthcare screening, assessments and more to individuals and families within the community when they graduate,” Clydesdale said. “This opportunity not only gave the students the opportunity to serve and help those in need, it also allowed them to sharpen their F.I.T skills as well as their networking abilities. Our students, our brand, and our reputation all benefited from today’s event.”
