Events
New Orleans East Night Out Against Crime
August 5th, 2008
New Orleans East
This year marked the fourth time that the Mary Amelia Center has attended the New Orleans East Night Out Against Crime. We were happy that the Pressburg Homeowner Neighborhood Association invited us back again. The event continues to grow and offerings this year included live music, food and drinks, school supplies, and information from the SPCA and the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board. Many of the city’s top officials and candidates stopped by, including Mayor Ray Nagin.
InterContinental Hotel Health and Hobby Fair
June 18, 2008
Downtown New Orleans
Melissa Lovell participated in the InterContinental Hotel Health and Hobby Fair in the hotel’s ballroom on St. Charles Ave. The fair provided a unique combination of health information and a chance for employees to display their hobbies. This combination proved to be a success as both the health vendors and hobbyists had plenty of visitors at the well-attended event. In some cases the two themes combined beautifully as when the bike-riding group helped to promote exercise by providing maps with bike trials marked on them. The Center was able to distribute nearly 300 materials covering diabetes, stress and social support, and important tests for a woman’s good health. We hope that our participation here will provide more chances to promote health and wellness in the workplace.
Tulane Day at the Legislature
May 21, 2008
Baton Rouge, LA
Every year Tulane University takes a special day to make its presence know at the state capital on Tulane Day at the Legislature. The Center, along with other Tulane entities such as the Primate Center and the Alumni Association, attended the event to provide information and materials to state legislators and their staffs on the issues that are important to New Orleans women and families. At our table in the historic rotunda of the capital building, we displayed materials covering the role of stress, depression and social support in health. We also distributed our latest newsletter and a fact sheet to both the politicians hard at work in the chambers and the general public who were visiting the capitol. The Legislature Day is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of women’s health issues among policy makers.
V-Day
April 4, 2008
Craige Cultural Center, Algiers
To commemorate V-Day, the Mary Amelia Center co-hosted a Wine Tasting and Silent Art Auction to benefit the New Orleans Women’s Shelter. The Center partnered with Common Ground Health Clinic and the Craige Cultural Center to organize this event. The occasion featured performances by local music and spoken word performers Sunni Patterson and Asia, Zion Trinity, Moílasses and several others. Local artists donated more than 35 pieces to the auction. We were pleasantly surprised when Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues and founder of V-day, arrived and took a moment to say a few inspiring words. All who attended considered the event a huge success, and we were happy to have raised over $1000 for the New Orleans Women’s Shelter.
The Red Tent Luncheon and Day of Relaxation
March 29, 2008
7th Ward Neighborhood Center, New Orleans
The Red Tent event was as combination health information fair and relaxing retreat environment for participants. In the open, tranquil and informative environment, participants were easily able to share personal experiences, as well as get information from tables and speakers. The day consisted of a welcome yoga session, a brunch seminar session and a reflexology seminar. The Center’s STAND Project provided resource materials, CoWHA recruitment flyers, and a sign-up sheet for CoWHA training. The Center also gave an informal talk to participants about stress awareness, coping, the STAND Project, and relevance to women in Post-Katrina New Orleans during the luncheon.
Upward Bound Health Fair
March 15, 2008
Delgado Community College, New Orleans
The Center participated in the health fair that was an event for Upward Bound students and their families. Upward Bound is a federally funded program that provides select high school students with opportunities to increase their chance of attending college. Mary Amelia staff participated with a table at the fair and spoke to the nearly 100 attendants about osteoporosis and how it can be prevented. We also distributed Powerful Girl journals that address physical exercise and calcium intake for young women. The fair provided an excellent opportunity to reach youth and their parents.
A Healthy Baby Begins with You
February 15, 2008
Xavier University, New Orleans
The Mary Amelia Center participated in a special health fair organized by the Office of Minority Health and sponsored by Tonya Lewis Lee, author and the wife of movie producer Spike Lee. The fair’s title refers to its goal of raising awareness on infant mortality and featured a variety of participants including the March of Dimes, New Orleans Women’s Clinic and the Office of Public Health Maternal and Child Health program. Attendees had the chance to win infant car seats, diaper bags and other infant resources as raffle and door prizes. Organizations presented Healthy Chats focused on specific health topics concerning mothers and infants. Tonya Lewis Lee gave away signed copies of the children’s book she and her husband wrote.
Thanksgiving Wellness Celebration
November 15, 2007
Craige Cultural Center, Algiers
The Mary Amelia Center and the Common Ground Health Clinic in Algiers shared the Thanksgiving season with local residents at the Thanksgiving Wellness Celebration. The free event included an array of activities and demonstrations like acupuncture, energy readings, deep breathing and meditation, blood pressure and blood sugar checks, a kid’s activity table and an herbal clinic. The New Orleans Food and Farm Network, Tulane Drop-In Center, St. Anna’s Medical Mission and United Methodist Disaster Ministries were among the participating organizations that provided information to the attendants. In addition to the valuable health information and screenings, the highlight of the event was a beautiful Thanksgiving spread with turkey and all the trimmings.
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