Cone Health brings free health screenings and support to Burlington event

Cone Health brought free screenings, health education and support services to Ebenezer United Church of Christ on Apple Street in Burlington, where Building a Better You: Alamance County ran from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16. Families could move through one stop for screenings, weight-management help, diabetes and nutrition education, smoking-cessation support, family resources and interactive activities for children, with a chance to win $100 gift cards.

The free format mattered for working parents and anyone who cannot easily spend a day driving between appointments, agencies and clinics. Cone Health said more than 35 local organizations were on hand to connect residents with wellness, family and social-service support, and the system said many people come away from Building a Better You events with chronic disease management, mental health, nutrition and family care services for the first time. Cone Health said its events average more than 200 attendees across the region.

The Burlington event came against a local backdrop of uneven health access. Cone Health said about 14% of adults in Burlington are living with diabetes, while roughly 15% of people in ZIP code 27217 do not have health insurance. The health system has tied those gaps to long-standing conditions that shape life expectancy, including access to health care, healthy food, transportation and affordable housing.

Cone Health’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment said regional disparities are connected to redlining, segregation, discrimination, income, wealth, education and access to needed services. Its 2025 assessment for the service area listed diabetes, food access, transportation, housing and other social determinants as major needs, underscoring why a one-day event that blends screenings with referrals can matter in Alamance County.

The Burlington stop also fit into a larger pattern of neighborhood outreach. Cone Health said it held three Building a Better You events in 2025 in Guilford, Alamance and Rockingham counties, and that the program has connected 1,200 people with health care providers since it began. The health system’s Center for Health Equity says it uses community-based outreach to help residents connect with food, housing, transportation, utility and other support, an approach aimed at reducing the barriers that keep families from getting care until problems become harder to treat.