The Sickle Cell Association celebrated the re-opening of its Suffolk office on Tuesday with a Christmas-themed open house.

The office is returning to its original location, the Local Union 2426 office at 509 E. Washington St., after several years of moving around to different locations and two or three years of not having a physical presence in Suffolk at all.

Felton Whitfield, chairman of the Suffolk board, said having the office in Suffolk will be more convenient for people who may not be able to travel to Norfolk.

People will also feel more comfortable sharing with a person in their own community, Whitfield believes. The new community outreach coordinator, Juanita Eley, has sickle cell herself.

“She has a better relationship with the clients, because she knows what they’re going through,” he said.

The association offers education, counseling, testing and other assistance to those who have sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait.

The most common form of the inherited disease, sickle cell anemia, causes the body to make abnormally shaped red blood cells, which can block blood flow in limbs and organs, causing pain, damage, and increased risk of stroke and other problems, according to the National Institutes of Health. Those who have sickle cell trait do not have the disease but can pass it on to their children.

The disease is most common in black people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one of every 500 blacks born in America has sickle cell disease. About two million people have the trait that allows them to pass it on to their children.

The local association raises funds with a banquet every year. Its next banquet is on March 7, 2015, at Tabernacle Christian Church.

The office’s new phone number is not yet set up, but people can call the Norfolk office at 466-0332 for information or assistance.

Besides Whitfield, board members include Chryalene Whitfield, Margaret Colander, Mamie Kindred, Lula Holland, Betty Montgomery and Faye Ledbetter.