Latino expo at OCCC offering free health services, screenings
The National Latino Family Expo had only been open for 22 minutes Saturday morning and 60 people had already signed up for a free vision evaluation, a service offered by Johnson & Johnson.
Last year, when the expo took place in Kansas City, Kan., 400 people got the same service — over the course of three days.
“We’ll double that this year,” said Jason Johnson, an analyst for the New Jersey-based health care company.
This is the first time Orlando has played host to the expo, which runs in tandem with the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference at the Orange County Convention Center.
The event continues today and Monday. It’s expected to draw between 18,000 and 20,000 people, said event organizers.
The expo includes more than 125 exhibitors, connecting Central Florida’s Hispanic community to local service providers. It includes a health fair, job fair and financial services.
“We like to partner with local organizations in the cities that we’re in,” said Enrique Chaurand, deputy vice president of La Raza, the largest Hispanic civil-rights advocacy group.
Next year, the conference will take place in Phoenix.
As seen with long lines for vision testing, Chaurand said he expects a big turnout for the Orlando event because of the large Hispanic population here.
The city of Orlando’s Hispanic or Latino residents accounted for 25 percent of the population of 238,300 in 2010, according to census data.
Zobeida Sosa, whose daughter was working at the event, said the event was important to assist local Hispanic families.
She was there to support her daughter and to pick up free school supplies for her granddaughter. Sosa also planned to get a free health screening Saturday.
“You find almost everything here and the [services] here,” said the Poinciana woman. “Why not get it more than once in the year?”