Gonzales, LA- River Parishes Community College hosted a virtual presentation to discuss opioids on October 25th and then hosted a Health and Wellness fair on October 26th. 

The events were open to students and the community as an effort to educate and promote awareness about one’s health. The opioids presentation took place virtually and had about 200 students attended. The majority of this event included students from RPCC’s Early College Option Program. 

“The Office of Student Engagement brought the topic of discussion for this event to the RPCC community as part of an effort to promote the introduction of our Collegiate Recovery Program, the Rougarous’ Recovery Program,” said Coordinator of Accessibility Services & Student Engagement, Shalither Cushenberry. “The event's goal was to raise awareness about the current opioid crisis in the hopes of preventing its usage and to demonstrate how to use Narcan responsibly if you come across someone who is having an overdose. We want to say, Thank You, to Mrs. Wickham and the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals for taking the time to facilitate the Let’s Talk Opioids Virtual Presentation with our college community.”

The Health and Wellness Fair hosted by the Office of Student Engagement in collaboration with the Dean of Allied Health invited several partners from the healthcare industry to participate. Students got the opportunity to visit with the partners, complete interactive activities, and learn more about the healthcare field and how to live a healthier life. 

Students from RPCC’s Medical Assistant Program, nursing and other healthcare programs got the opportunity to participant as an attendee and volunteer as an assistant to some of the vendors providing healthcare screenings during the event. 

“It was an honor to provide the community, students and faculty with the resources in our community to promote good health and wellness. OLOL community outreach team provided blood sugar and cholesterol checks, Heart Sense provided heart screenings for heart abnormalities, and RPCC nursing students provided blood pressure checks. Community partners provided resources from health insurance all the way to nutrition,” said Gretchen Schmidt, Dean of Health Sciences. 

The Gonzales campus is located at 925 West Edenborne Parkway Gonzales, La. 70737. For questions, contact [email protected].