UPDATE, Sept 1, 2019 / A free community health fair is being offered for the third year by the Islamic Center of Naperville and one of the city’s oldest Christian congregations.
Co-sponsored by Community United Methodist Church and the ICN Free Clinic, the fair runs from 10AM to 3PM on Sat., Sept. 7, at the mosque, 2844 W. Ogden Ave.
Individuals 16 and older can receive flu shots, blood pressure checks, blood sugar checks, weight management consultations, mini massages, vision tests and oral cancer screenings. They can visit various booths to talk with orthopedists, optometrists, dentists or even to get a brief physician consultation.
Also, different health care practitioners will offer five different hour-long courses on such topics as living with high blood pressure or living with diabetes. Healthy snacks are served throughout the day.
As in previous years, members of both congregations will serve as greeters and guides to ensure everyone feels comfortable coming in to the mosque and participating in the events. Doctors from the free clinic, local nursing students, and health care practitioners from the community at large are donating their expertise.
Hundreds of people have attended the health fair the last two years, several of them later becoming clients of the ICN Free Clinic, which offers “quality healthcare to anyone without insurance, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.” The clinic is open the first Sunday of each month, from 9AM to noon, and the third Wednesday of each month from 7 to 9PM. For more info, visit clinic.icnmasjid.org.
UPDATE, July 16, 2018 / Pat Shanower has informed PN that the second Free Health Fair is being planned for Sat., Sept. 8, 2018, sponsored by the Islamic Center of Naperville and Community United Methodist Church. The health fair will offer at no cost blood pressure checks, medical care where indicated, dental and orthopedic checks, and much more. It is scheduled from 10-3PM at the Islamic Center, located at 2844 West Ogden Avenue.
UPDATE, Aug. 12, 2017 / In response to inquiries about appointments, Pat Shanower provided details about the health fair, open to the public, on Sat., Sept. 16, 2017.
The fair will run from 10AM to 2PM on Sat., Sept. 16, at the mosque, 2844 W. Ogden Ave.
Individuals 16 and older can be screened for blood pressure, blood sugar levels and oral cancer; and have a brief consultation with a physician about any concerning results, all at no charge. Physical therapists, nutritionists, dentists, nurses, social workers and dieticians will share information, answer questions or provide short counseling sessions at booths throughout the fair.
In addition, more in-depth presentations on topics such as back care, balance and fall prevention, a healthy diet, living with high blood pressure and heart disease prevention will be offered in classrooms during the event.
Members of Community United Methodist Church in downtown Naperville are co-sponsoring the fair to show people of all faiths that the community benefits when people come together to serve.
“This sort of partnership should have started 20 years ago,” said Pat Shanower, a member of Community UMC who brought Drs. Atif Fakhruddin and Usman Khan together with church members to plan the event and recruit volunteers.
Recognizing that people who have never been inside a mosque might be reluctant to go there, members of both congregations will serve as greeters, guides and helpers to ensure everyone feels comfortable.
The health fair also will serve to publicize the Islamic Center of Naperville Free Clinic, which is open from 9AM to noon the first Sunday of each month and from 7 to 9PM on the third Wednesday of each month at the mosque. The ICNFC provides no-cost general health and wellness care, annual physicals, nutrition counseling and specialty referrals; plus discounted lab work and X-Rays, to anyone who is without insurance, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.
Its founding members, including Fakhruddin and Khan, describe it as an “all-inclusive clinic where patients will be treated with respect and dignity.”
The clinic opened in March 2017, but has not seen many non-Muslim patients, and its founders have been looking for a way to spread the news of its services to the entire community, organizers said.
At the same time, the ICN has been sponsoring “Open Mosque” days to spread understanding of Islam among its Naperville neighbors, and Shanower and other Community UMC members have attended. When members of Shanower’s adult Sunday School class wanted to better understand the Muslim faith, Shanower invited some ICN members to speak on two successive weeks. During those conversations, she heard of the desire to spread news of the free clinic, and a partnership was born.
“They really have a passion to serve the underserved,” Shanower said.
