COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Chavez Leads Expansion of Health Fair to Fill Critical Service Gaps in Moriarty-Edgewood

MORIARTY, N.M. – What began as a modest effort to help Moriarty elementary school families has blossomed into a vital resource for the entire region, thanks to the vision and drive of high Moriarty High School nurse Donzlynn Chavez.

Chavez is the organizer behind the Moriarty-Edgewood School District Community-Wide Health and Wellness Fair, an event designed to bring essential medical and social services directly to residents who might otherwise struggle to access them.

“We’ve invited health care providers, community resources, [and] health screenings to come and join us today and offer these services to our community to help fill a gap in services out here,” Chavez said.

The event marks a significant expansion from Chavez’s previous work.

“Last year I did [it] on a smaller scale, just at Moriarty Elementary,” Chavez explained. “This year, they’ve moved me over to the high school, and I was asked if I would be interested in doing something community-wide. And so I jumped at it.”

The response from the public was immediate. By moving the event to the high school and opening the doors to the broader public, Chavez aimed to create a “one-stop-shop” for wellness. She noted that the turnout confirmed the necessity of the event.

“I think that our community is such a wonderful group of individuals that when they come together to events like this, they really are able to get access to what they need,” Chavez said. “When families saw that we were providing these services or offering these activities for free, a lot of families saw that they needed to be here and participate.”

For Chavez, the measure of success isn’t just the attendance numbers on the day of the fair, but the lasting connections made between residents and providers.

“I hope that they are sharing the information they received here today,” she said. “I hope that they are taking away with them contact information to follow up with some of these services… and I really do hope they’re sharing with their community members, their neighbors, everyone around them.”