A free community fair focusing on public health and wellness is coming to town in Tacoma to keep communities healthy.

The fair is held by Mercy Housing Northwest, an organization focused on providing healthy communities to those who need them, and fostering healthy living. Mercy Housing Northwest helps families, individuals and seniors become self-sufficient by providing permanent housing with supportive services.

With around 50 vendors and hundreds of attendees signed up, the fair hosts a variety of organizations from Red Cross to healthcare agencies and educational systems.

The importance of the event is to provide education and resources to people who may not seek them out otherwise, as well as entertainment to keep people around, said Chrystal Campbell, Healthcare Coordination Specialist for Mercy Housing.

“Our goal is to provide a wide range of local community organizations that could be of benefit to seniors, families, children and people with special needs,” Campbell said.

The fair will feature workshops on emergency preparedness with Red Cross, safe streets and nutrition. The Aging and Disability and Disability Resource Center will be there as another resource.

Physical health can be as important as community health: Yoga and Zumba workshops will be provided, as well as on-site health screenings, and general healthcare information.

Mercy Housing also offers service-enriched housing for its residents who need general life-coaching. The goal of enriched housing is to help families gain greater stability, and to provide preventative measure to help families avoid homelessness.

Mercy Housing states that, “We accomplish this through dedicated and highly-motivated staff, extensive community partnerships, and a focus on programs that contribute to resident success and outcomes that can be measured.”

Nationwide, Mercy Housing serves over 150,000 every day, and works on providing over 45,000 instances of affordable homes to those who need them. 33% of the total clientele is senior citizens, with the majority being families.

The event will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 26 at the Oasis of Hope Center, 1937 South G Street in Tacoma. Mercy Housing Northwest can be called at 206-838-5700, and more information is available at https://www.mercyhousing.org/northwest.

Seattle-area based native Reed Strong is a college senior at Western Washington University majoring in journalism, working with Northwest Prime Time to talk with local seniors and baby boomers to report on local issues to get those issues back to the community at large.