East Gainesville residents learned about wellness and financial literacy on the first Saturday of Black History Month.
Those attending the Community Health and Healing Fair were giving free massages and acupuncture and provided financial literacy information by employees from PNC Bank.
Held Saturday at the Library Partnership in northeast Gainesville, the event was hosted by the American Universal Medicine Institute.
“I created this event because I wanted people to have a wider range of medical possibilities,” said Khalid A. Shakoor, who founded American Universal Medicine in 2015 to educate people about wellness, literacy and finances.
Shakoor, a doctor of acupuncture and oriental medicine, said he gained his interest for helping others from his mother.
“I’ve had a lot of great mentors in my life,” Shakoor said. “My mother constantly gave out clothes and food. I was raised to give back to the community.”
Other vendors at the fair included Gainesville Community Acupuncture, Academy for Five Element Acupuncture and Florida Acupuncture and Counseling Inc.