The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) 12th Street Health & Wellness Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a free Fall Festival for the community from 1-5 p.m. Ot. 7, at 4010 W. 12th St. in Little Rock.
Located at 12th and Cedar Streets just south of UAMS’ main campus, the UAMS Health 12th Street Health & Wellness Center is a community-based, student-led, interprofessional clinic that provides free health screenings and health management services for people in the community. Students from UAMS’ five colleges and graduate school staff the free clinic, which opened in January 2013. Since then, the center has provided medical care to more than 7,000 patients who might otherwise not be able to afford necessary care. In 2022 alone, the center treated 800 individual patients and logged more than 59,000 volunteer hours from hundreds of students.
“We thought there was no better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary than with the community that we serve,” said Melissa Halverson, PharmD, MPH, director of the clinic. “I hope everyone will come out and see the services that our amazing students offer.”
Festival attendees can snack on popcorn and cotton candy as they peruse the booths, while children enjoy carnival games and a bounce house. Booths will include ones from local small businesses as well as ones for the clinic’s various specialty events — men’s health, women’s health, mental health, LGBTQ+ health, and muscular/orthopaedics.