Flagler County Health and Human Services Department delivered up social services agencies and associated vendors at its May ‘Flagler Spring Fling Outreach’ that, in turn, provided haircuts, meaningful information, and 10,000 pounds of food.
“Whatever the need is, we try to meet it,” said Health and Human Services Director Joseph Hegedus. “The collective presence of these agencies means so much to the 90 or so families that came out to Cattleman’s Hall on Friday.”
Participating vendors included the following: Grace Food Pantry; Family Life Center; Daytona State Fresh Start Program; Flagler OARS (Open Arms Recovery Services); Flagler Cares; Early Learning Coalition; Flagler Health+; Daytona State College TRiO; Changing Homelessness; Clear Captions; Flagler Family Assistance Center/The Sheltering Tree; Career Source; SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders); Seniors vs. Crime; Flagler Technical College; Flagler County Community Paramedicine; Florida Department of Health-Flagler; Flagler County Emergency Management; SMA; American Red Cross, Disability Solutions; Salvation Army; Division of Vocational Rehabilitation; Florida Legal Services; Flagler County Drug Court Foundation; Flagler Schools – FIT (Families in Transition) Program; and, Alpha Women’s Center.
Human Services Program Manager Kim Bennett works tirelessly to bring together representatives from a wide variety of programs and agencies to ensure information of all types is available. Volunteers from Flagler Volunteer Services helped ensure things ran smoothly the day of the event.
“Much of the time, the only reason someone isn’t getting help is because they don’t know where to go for that help,” Bennett said. “That’s why it’s helpful to bring these resources together in one spot.”
Flagler Technical Institute gave 21 haircuts during the three-hour event. Grace Food Pantry, with the help of the TRAILS transition team, transported, bagged, and distributed about 10,000 pounds of food. A steady stream of people – about 75 total – talked with Community Paramedics Tracy Farmer and Rob Errett about the services they provide.
“We love these opportunities to let people know how we can help,” Farmer said. “We help to fill the health care gaps within the community by providing a level of in-home care – an extension of the service they receive from their primary care.”
Bennett is already working on the next outreach event which will likely be held in early fall.
“If nothing else, we want our residents to know they can reach out to us if they have a social services need, and we will connect them with the appropriate resource,” Hegedus said. “Collectively, we and our partner agencies are a great team that come together to help one another in Flagler County.”
The phone number for Flagler County Health and Human Services is 386-586-2324.
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