Community Envisions a Healthy Future

The second annual Healthy Muscoy Festival drew the community together at the Inland Empire Job Corps for a day of music, food, and dozens of informational booths. Physicians and dentists were available in the Job Corps Gymnasium for free dental screenings, cavity fillings, and needed tooth extractions. The event offered the community information on available health care resources available throughout the county. Information was given on the local free clinic, the Al-Shifa Clinic​​​​​​​​​​, which was also part of the festival. Al-Shifa is a community clinic in Muscoy, based on the teachings of Islam, which offers free screenings and service in primary health care and some specialties. The clinic is open Wednesdays through Saturdays. The first Healthy Muscoy Festival was held last year with the help of CSUSB student volunteers, Reach Out, and the Latino Health Collaborative (LHC), an organization which aims to address barriers to health care for the Latino Community. This year, more organizations and volunteers pulled resources together for the event, including Al-Shifa Clinic and the UCR student-founded Riverside Health Connect (RHC), founded by local scholars who decided to dedicate their time towards addressing health disparities in the community. Co-founder of RHC, Maher Blaibel, who came up with the idea for the festival, touched on the importance of spreading health care option awareness. "A lady came in with an infected finger. She waited too long to go to the student-run clinic at UCR because we were closed. By the time she came in she had to go to the emergency room anyway. If she was aware that she could qualify for low-cost health care, she wouldn't have waited so long to get treatment." Jason Tran shared his own experiences which inspired him to get involved. "As an immigrant in a low-income family, I never had adequate health care. This is the least I could do to make sure people in the same situation are aware of their options. I know what it's like." Salvador Gutierrez of LHC was one of the key individuals who made the Healthy Muscoy Festival a reality. Between duties that Salvador had to do at the event, he caught his breath. "We want to address the health disparities in the community, but at the same time celebrate the rich culture and positive energy of Muscoy," shared Gutierrez. Haroun Mohammad, one of the co-founders of RHC gave thanks to all the organizations that pulled resources together to help make this happen. "We are hoping to set up a model for the surrounding communities," Mohammad shared. "This year's event is bigger and better than last year, and it will only continue to get bigger and better," said 5th District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who came out to support the the festival. "I will always support the community when they come together to work for a better tomorrow. This will affect the life of the youth," Gonzales added. The event included a performance of an all-mother known as CAPS, which aims to keep locals physically active and healthy, and Muscoy native Veronika Diaz, who performed and sang musica ranchera. Kids from local elementary schools were awarded for their efforts in creating art out of recyclable material, to represent their vision of a healthy Muscoy.