Eliana's Writing

A health fair organized by Love Liberated and Sacramento FilipinxLGBTQIA+ focuses on sharing wellness resources and celebrating Sacramento’s diverse communities

On a breezy, beautiful, 75-degree day, laughter and music flowed from Flower Fist Art Market’s community event space in Sacramento. Attendees and vendors in masks mingled and shared resources and contact information in what is now a rare sight in 2026. The check-in table had a program schedule, a registration QR-code and free masks for those who hadn’t brought their own. 

Organized by Love Liberated and Sacramento Filipinx LGBTQIA+ (SacFil), the 4th Annual Spring Into Wellness Health Fair gathered businesses and free resources that serve Sacramento’s Black, Indigenous, Queer and Trans People of Color (BIQTPOC). Free yoga, sound healing, massages, HIV testing and mental health counseling filled the gap in wellness access for one afternoon. 

The decision for the health fair to be a masks-required event is one born out of inclusivity and community care, according to SacFil member Kiana Aquino’s opening remarks. 

“We are still in an ongoing pandemic that is killing and disabling people, with BIQTPOC being the most impacted,” said Aquino. “We require masks so that we can avoid spreading preventable illnesses and to be in solidarity with our disabled community.”

Disparities in healthcare among non-white demographics in the U.S. are well documented, with racial and ethnic minorities experiencing higher rates of chronic disease and higher mortality rates when compared to white Americans. Research suggests that trans people also experience higher than average rates of chronic illness and face many obstacles when accessing healthcare. 

 These inequities carry over into how these communities are experiencing Long COVID, with BIPOC bearing greater post-COVID health burdens. Currently, the WHO estimates that 6% of adults who become infected with COVID-19 will develop Long COVID, with every new infection being a risk. 

Despite early confusion about COVID-19 transmission methods, COVID-19 is spread through both droplets and air transmission. The smallest aerosolized particles can linger in the air for hours and can travel like smoke. This makes respirator masks, like the N95’s and KN95’s provided at the health fair, a good tool for limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other aerosolized viruses like measles. 

The event space had wide open garage doors and multiple air purifiers operating to maximize airflow and minimize risk for those who did have to remove their masks for any reason. The effort to make the space as safe as possible brought in some attendees from outside the Sacramento area, like Azurae Eschen, who drove about an hour to attend the event.

“There’s no local COVID-cautious community up where I am in the foothills, so I come down to Sacramento,” Eschen said. “I think it’s important to normalize masking in 2026 because the immunocompromised community hasn’t gone anywhere.”

The relative safety of the space opened up access to free HIV testing, Narcan, fentanyl tests, hygiene kits, COVID-19 rapid tests and sexual education to those who might need them. 

“Our full mission is to foster sexual liberation for BIQTPOC by means of comprehensive education, creativity and healing,” said Astin Georgio-Williams, founder of Love Liberated. “We have so many health fairs in Sacramento, which is great, but we don’t have many that center on the intersection of Black and Indigenous, queer and trans folks of color.”

Planned Parenthood, Sacramento County Sexual Health Promotion Unit, Harm Reduction Services, Golden Rule Services, Trans and Queer Youth Collective and Gender Health Center were just some of the organizations offering free sexual health resources at the fair. 

Mondo Vaden, a board member of Love Liberated and local artist, has been an advocate for the community by organizing and participating in accessible events in the Sacramento area for years. 

“When we’re each individually at our best, at our most well, we are able to have energy to put towards caring for others. I think that this event really tries to spotlight the fact that we’re only here because we have chosen to be human together,” said Vaden. “We’ve chosen to be in community together, we’ve chosen to acknowledge that we as marginalized individuals, we are in a society that does not meet our needs. We have to create solutions for those needs.” 

In addition to Spring Into Wellness, Love Liberated and Sacramento Filipinx LGBTQIA+ also organize an accessible, non-corporate sponsored Pride event annually in Elk Grove. This year’s Elk Grove Pride will be on June 20 at Laguna Town Hall. Register to attend the event here.