Nearly 1,000 people receive help at Anaheim’s Health & Citizenship Fair – Orange County Register


Nearly 1,000 people receive help at Anaheim’s Health & Citizenship Fair – Orange County Register

At the Anaheim Convention Center over the weekend, visitors could have had a tooth pulled, gotten a head-to-toe physical, acquired a new pair of prescription glasses and received legal advice on becoming a United States citizen … all without leaving the building or spending a penny.

Dozens of healthcare professionals and legal experts volunteered their services at the 13th annual Health & Citizenship Fair, which provided health services to about 700 attendees and legal help to about 200 at the citizenship clinic, said Lauren Gold, spokeswoman for the city of Anaheim, one of hosts of the fair.

The event, believed to be the largest of its kind in Orange County, provided free health services in a variety of specialties, including dental, vision and hearing screenings and treatments, mammograms, bone density assessments, blood testing, electrocardiograms and mental health.

“If you believe the Dalai Lama, the purpose in life is to be happy and bring happiness to others,” said Dr. Nitin Shah, one of  the founders of the health fair. “If you want to be happy for a lifetime, go help someone else.”

Shah, an anesthesiologist, ICU physician and professor at Loma Linda University School of  Medicine, said he’s been doing missionary work in medicine around the world since 1992. While hosting a health fair in Artesia in 2007, Shah was approached by then Anaheim councilman Harry Sidhu, now the mayor of  Anaheim, about bringing a health fair to Anaheim.

The health fair has grown exponentially each year, first being held at the Brookhurst Community Center, then moving to Magnolia High School, the Western Medical Center parking lot and finally to the Anaheim Convention Center in 2014.

Those who required further treatment after their screenings were referred to the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, one of the fair’s main sponsors.

“We’re the only free clinic left in Orange County and there are too many people who don’t have  anywhere to go for healthcare,” said Ed Gerber, Lestonnac’s executive director, who was a patient at the clinic 26 years ago. “Over the years, I just developed a passion for helping individuals that need help. A lot of people think it is just the undocumented who don’t’ have services. That’s not the case. It’s a mixture.”

In 2017, the citizenship clinic was added to health fair to provide free legal consultations to residents who already have lawful permanent residency and want to become naturalized U.S. citizens.

Students from the UC Irvine Law School and volunteers from the Public Law Center in Santa Ana were on hand to help guide people through the citizenship application process.

In some cases, legal experts helped qualifying low-income applicants wave the $725 application fee.

“I think it’s incredibly important that we ensure that people who are eligible to become citizens of the United States receive the assistance that they need to go through the process,” said Elizabeth Schroeder, dean of the UCI Law School.

Polo Corona, 65, a legal permanent resident since 1986, attended the clinic from his home in Norwalk to begin the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Corona, who is retired from The Boeing Company, said he was 18 when he came to the U.S. from Mexico with his family.

The avid Los Angeles Dodger fan said he wants to become a citizens to gain “more rights and be able to live better.”


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