By Shannon Lukens. This picture was the busiest room at the Health & Wellness Expo Thursday, with chair massage, manicures and pedicures.

 

Close to 20 local groups gathered at the Steamboat Springs Community Center Thursday for the first ever Health & Wellness Expo today, for those 60 and older. April Sigman is the executive director for the Routt County Council on Aging.

“It’s bringing the community together and creating connections. They know that there is a community of support out there.”

 

Yampa Valley Community Foundation got the idea going when a community member reached out about a concern of suicide risk in the local aging population.

 

Traci Hiatt, the Director of Philanthropy at YVCF, gathered together service providers and health care professionals who serve older members in the community. They collaborated to come up with the idea of a health and wellness expo.

 

Hiatt says, “The intent was to provide one day and one place where people could go to receive health, dental, vision and hearing screenings, as well as many other resources and services, with a goal to identify potential issues early and connect people with providers who can help.”

 

Hiatt says the person who started the conversation came up with the funding to help make the wellness expo happen with services and resources provided for free, on-site.

 

Hiatt added, “The goal was to connect older adults in our community with people who can help them with their needs.”

 

Here are some pictures, with more pictures on the Steamboat Radio Facebook page.