CDU Participates in Taste of Soul 2022
CDU was a proud sponsor and participant in this year ’ s Taste of Soul . The street festival , which CDU has supported and participated in for the past 17 years , was back in-person for the first time since 2019 .
“ Community engagement is important to CDU ,” said Vanessa Riggins , Director of Admissions . “ It gives our University an opportunity to share about the support that CDU provides to the community through our commitment to cultivating diverse health professional leaders who are dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations through outstanding education , research , clinical service , and community engagement .”
The Office of Admissions staff along with over 40 students representing all programs at CDU attended the festival to engage with our community and share information about CDU and our academic programs .
“ Taste of Soul exemplifies the foundation of the strength of Charles R . Drew University – Diversity ,” said Laurell Black , Outreach Manager . “ Our participation at Taste of Soul re ( introduces ) CDU to the larger community and allows us a unique platform to reach out to our world ‘ family ’ who have a vested interest in health equity .”
The CDU Street Medicine Project was also present and conducted outreach by offering primary health care services including blood pressure , glucose , and cholesterol screenings , as well as COVID-19 and Monkeypox vaccinations , HIV testing , and dissemination of COVID-19 home testing kits . The team also provided fentanyl education and dissemination of Norcan testing kits .
“ The Taste of Soul is an annual event where we are able to not only showcase our numerous community service programs , academic programs and pipeline programs , but live up to our mission of serving medically underserved racial / ethnic minority communities with a special focus in South Los Angeles ,” said Dr . Cynthia Davis .