Anchorage Assembly schedules Hispanic Heritage Month health fair with Spanish-speaking staff

Anchorage residents can get affordable lab testing and breast and cervical screening assistance on Saturday, Oct. 3, at a health fair with Spanish-speaking staff and translation services.

The Anchorage Assembly published notices for the event, called Wellness for All, along with two others marking Hispanic Heritage Month. The health fair runs from 8 a.m. to noon at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The notice lists health education among the services offered.

The events fall inside the observance period the Assembly is set to recognize by resolution at its next assembly meeting designating Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 as Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month in Anchorage. This is the first such observance since Alaska recognized Hispanic Heritage Month in state law this year, according to prior Alaska News coverage.

The resolution states that Hispanic and Latino residents make up 8.2% of Alaska's population, about 60,450 people. It says they operate nearly 3,000 businesses. It ties the local designation to Senate Bill 40, sponsored by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson and signed into law this year.