St. Mary’s Catholic
Church - Health Screening
Today I had the opportunity to assist with a Health
Screening activity at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greensboro, NC. St. Mary’s dates back to 1870 when Mass was
celebrated periodically in the homes of the pioneering people. As the parish grew, a building was
constructed to serve the residents of Greensboro and initially became known as
St. Benedict’s Catholic Church.
The number of black converts in the community grew and in 1928
St. Mary’s Parish was born to serve the black residents of southeast
Greensboro. In the 1970’s St. Mary’s
continued to evolve as refugees from Asia and Africa began to join the
parish. Currently one-third of St. Mary’s
parishioners are African American, one-third are white, and one-third are
immigrants from Asia or Africa.
The Cone Health Congregational Nurse Program implemented a
Health Screening and Counseling activity following the 12 noon Mass. As we provided health screening services for
this church, interpreters were on hand to assist the Vietnamese members of the
Parish.
My role in this service learning experience:
Since this was my first participation with the
Congregational Nurse Program activities, my role included assisting the
Vietnamese interpreters as they completed the required paperwork for the health
screenings. In addition, I had the
opportunity to watch and listen as the Congregational Health Nurses provided
blood pressure checks, blood sugar screenings, height/weight recordings, and
general health advice to the parishioners.
Program wrap-up included organizing materials for the next health
screening and making sure all of the health documentation was distributed to
the correct nurses. This event lasted
approximately three hours and I felt privileged to be a voluntary member of
this great team!
Next event scheduled in Eden, NC.
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