Ashforth teamed up with Stamford Hospital’s Mobile Wellness Center for its first health fair at its owed properties in Connecticut in 2014. This fall, the Mobile Wellness Center returned to their Stamford and buildings: 707 Summer Street and 3001 Stamford Square.
Private mammograms are provided on the on-site, mobile coach for everyone working at the buildings. In addition, numerous free health screenings and services are offered in the main lobbies including: pulmonary functions tests, facial skin analysis, chair massages and cholesterol & glucose testing.
This year, a total of 3 mammograms and 90 health screenings were performed, compared to 3 mammograms and 188 health screenings last year. Everyone who participated walked away knowing just a little more about how to keep themselves healthier, but there was one story in particular that stood out. Two years ago, Rica Mendes, whose past employer is a tenant at 2777 Summer Street, a building located right next to 3001 and also managed by Ashforth, tells of her experience:
“As you know, Ashforth hosted a health fair in June 2011 which included mammograms from Stamford Hospital’s mobile unit. I almost didn’t go, as I was running late from a doctor’s appointment, but I decided to continue down Summer Street. I went to get the mammogram, as a LIVESTRONG Leader, to set an example. I wanted to get a baseline mammogram now, years before my first mammogram would be mandated, so that doctors would be able to compare films.
“At the time, the film seemed fine. A week later, however, I got a letter that something was suspicious, and they wanted to run another set of mammograms and a sonogram to confirm all was OK. I went to the Tully Center, and the tests began. Though I was only 37, there was something that didn’t look right on the right side, and a biopsy was ordered.
“It came back positive with two cancers, including a Grade 3, aggressive, invasive cancer in the right breast. And the cancer is located deeply enough in the breast tissue that self-breast exams would never have given an indication that it was there. The only way it could have been seen was via mammogram. And had I waited 3 years, this letter would not have been written. Something like this would have been spoken at my funeral.
“Thank you so much for having the mobile unit there. Do it every year. Every six months. Encourage every single woman in the building to walk through the doors of that bus and give up 10 minutes of their time.
“It really can save their lives. It saved mine.”
Rica Mendes is now a breast cancer survivor.
