On January 18, 2026—just before Martin Luther King Jr. Day—Temple Health, the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, the Temple University School of Pharmacy, and Temple University’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry hosted an “Activism in Actions: Putting Health Justice into Practice” health fair in partnership with Zion Baptist Church.
In the spirit of service championed by the Reverend Dr. King, the event was dedicated to action: supporting healthier communities and advancing justice in healthcare access and outcomes.
“The Reverend Dr. King visited Zion Baptist Church during the Civil Rights Movement,” explains Cornelius D. Pitts, Pharm.D., Assistant Professor in the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics at Katz and a member of Zion’s congregation, who was instrumental in organizing the health fair. “That made it the ideal location for the event: not only in commemoration of his visit and his advocacy for health justice, but because Zion has a history of serving the community for generations.”
Building Relationships and Connections to Care
The event offered health assessments and education across a variety of disciplines: from blood pressure screenings and cardiovascular risk assessments provided by the Department of Family & Community Medicine to vision tests from the Department of Ophthalmology to mobility assessments from Katz’s Mobility Club. Zion’s Health Ministry offered diabetic screenings, Podiatry provided foot exams, and the School of Pharmacy discussed medication management.
“We wanted to show our community the breadth of services we provide and how we can work across disciplines to serve our neighbors,” Dr. Pitts says. “The health fair was held just after our Sunday service, as well as a meeting of the Zion Cares program—which offers meals and donations of food and clothing to individuals in need—so many members of the community were there. The atmosphere was electric.”
“During our screenings, we identified a number of individuals who were unaware they had high blood pressure,” says Nina R. O’Connor, MD, Chair and Professor of Family & Community Medicine. “We were able to provide them with education and connect them to follow-up care. More broadly, we made positive connections and built relationships with so many members of our community, which was critical. It’s all about increasing the trust between Temple and our neighbors and showing them that they can receive the care they need with us.”
Putting Healthcare Careers within Reach
Katz’s Office of Strategic Partnership in Health, Education & Resources (SPHERE), which also attended the health fair, brought a series of educational offerings: from an apple to use to simulate performing an epidural to a mannequin for practicing intubation techniques.
“We wanted to show people that the work physicians do isn’t out of the realm of possibility for them,” explains Abiona Berkeley, MD, JD, Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, who led the SPHERE team at the event. “If you can give an apple an epidural, you probably can give a person one, too—with a bit more training.”
Dr. Berkeley and her team encouraged the high schoolers in attendance to sign up for Katz’s Mini Medical School: a free one-week program that gives teens a closer look at the health professions. Adults could bring information about the program home to the young people in their lives—but the demonstrations also inspired at least one older community member to pursue a medical career.
“I just got a call from one of the leaders at Zion, who heard from a woman who attended the health fair,” Dr. Berkeley shares. “She was impressed that there were so many educational opportunities for high schoolers and college students, and she asked, ‘Is there anything for someone like me?’ The leader asked, ‘What do you want to be? What are your dreams?’ And the woman said, ‘I don’t dream.’”
“But it turns out she does dream,” Dr. Berkeley continues. “She wants to be a phlebotomist. So now we’re working with her to explore how she can pursue that. It reminded me why these kinds of educational programs in the community are so important: because there’s a real need to show people the kinds of opportunities available to them.”
Meeting Community Needs
In the aftermath of the health fair, Dr. Pitts is also leveraging the interdisciplinary relationships that made the event possible to create further positive change.
“The health fair was so successful because we brought together so many different individuals and departments and schools: from the School of Medicine to Pharmacy to Dentistry to Family & Community Medicine to Ophthalmology to Podiatry,” he says. “If we could get so many collaborators in one room for this event, why can’t we get them together on a regular basis to talk about how we can improve healthcare for our community?”
“Our community was the most important part of the health fair, and they should also be the major force in that conversation,” he says. “We’re here to serve them, so let’s hear how they need us to do that. Let’s hear what they actually want.”