University News

UVA’s Community Health Stations: Check-Ups, Produce, Bingo and More

As the temperature falls and people are looking for ways to stay healthy, the University of Virginia’s Community Health Stations continue to provide vaccines, fresh produce, health screenings and some fun activities to beat the chill.

Every first and third Tuesday of the month at 5 p.m., members of the UVA Health staff can be found at Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries, a nonprofit organization in Fifeville. The program has been running for a year and a half as a community partnership between the organization and the health system, aimed at making health care more accessible.

Jacklene Martin, UVA Health’s director of community partnerships and health equity, is likely to be one of the first people welcoming visitors. She helps oversee the initiative, which also provides services at the Southwood Mobile Home Park.

“If there’s enough interest, we do some pop-up events, and then it could eventually lead to a brick-and-mortar clinic in the community,” she said. “So far, the response here has been great, so we are pretty pleased.”

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In addition to health screenings, general advice and groceries, residents can also enjoy bingo and yoga.

Martin is a lifelong Charlottesville resident, residing in the 10th and Page neighborhood, and has lots of experience working to enhance community health care across the city. She was the director of community benefit at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital for 25 years before joining UVA Health two years ago.

She’s working to ensure the program caters to the unique and changing needs of an ever-changing neighborhood. In response to a growing number of people living in Fifeville who speak Pashto, a language spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and other neighboring countries, the team brings in Pashto interpreters once a month.

Moving into the building, visitors may encounter Justin Vesser, a pharmacist at UVA Health who runs the system’s outpatient pharmacies, including nine community pharmacies throughout the Central Virginia area.

Portrait of Jacklene Martin, UVA Health’s director of community partnerships and health equity.

Jacklene Martin, UVA Health’s director of community partnerships and health equity, works to make care more accessible within Charlottesville’s communities. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

For two hours, Vesser administers vaccinations for anyone who wants them. During this season, he primarily focuses on COVID-19 boosters and flu shots, which he recommends people talk to their health care providers about.

“The flu changes every year, so last year’s shot is no good this year,” he said. “It’s just as much about making sure that you’re not going to be a carrier or an infector of other people in your life who may be are more vulnerable, like somebody older, a baby, or a pregnant woman.”

Vesser says it’s important for people to have trusted health care workers they can ask for information concerning vaccines. When the COVID-19 vaccine became available to the public, he administered UVA’s first doses.

Born and raised in Charlottesville, Shackelford said he’s happy for a chance to help his community be healthy. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

“When people come here, because it’s all staffed by people from the community, it makes it easier,” he said. “They’re in the environment they know, with people they know. There are people who might not be able to get a shot from me in my pharmacy, but would be happy to come here.”

Around the corner, in the kitchen, David Shackelford Sr. volunteers regularly to pack fresh produce for visitors. This week, he packed pears, acorn squash, apple cider and collard greens for all who wanted them.

Born and raised in Charlottesville, he’s attended church all his life and supported Abundant Life Ministries for decades. At 63, he enjoys the chance to help make life easier for his community. “Somebody did it for me when I was a kid,” he said.

Group portrait of Kathryn Laughon, Jennifer Gaines and Victoria Petermann, fellow nurses.

Registered nurses Kathryn Laughon, Jennifer Gaines and Victoria Petermann offered blood pressure, blood sugar level and other health screenings. (Photo by Emily Faith Morgan, University Communications)

Before the evening got busy, he took the opportunity to have the UVA Health nurse on-site check his blood pressure. Nurses offer a range of health screenings, including blood pressure, hemoglobin and blood sugar checks.

Jennifer Gaines, a registered nurse and nursing instructor at UVA Health, said they’re also there to answer any questions about general health, eating, lifestyle and managing conditions like diabetes.

Community is an important part of living a healthy life, Gaines said. The goal, she noted, of offering a space where people can return week after week and see familiar faces is to foster a welcoming atmosphere and promote healthy living.