Today's Mercy Health health fair provided free screenings

YOUNGSTOWN

Nearly everyone knows that regularly changing the oil, checking the fluid levels and performing other inexpensive but important preventive measures can protect against far more costly repairs to a vehicle and go a long way toward prolonging its life.

Likewise, consistently monitoring one’s cholesterol level, blood pressure and diet can add a lot of mileage to a person’s years and quality of life, a health-care professional says.

“Know your numbers,” Bridget Lackey said, referring to the importance of receiving screenings for cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and other vital measurements.

Lackey, a community-health educator with Mercy Health Youngstown, helped many people of all ages become more acquainted with their numbers during Saturday’s “A Healthier You” health fair at Metro Assembly of God Church, 2530 South Ave., on the South Side.

Hosting the free, three-hour event were the 6th Ward Citizens Coalition and Taft Promise Neighborhood, which seeks to improve developmental and educational outcomes in distressed communities, mainly in the city’s 7th Ward, and transform them by addressing infrastructure needs, developing school-centered career programming and assisting organizations with a vested interest in the neighborhoods.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.