Communityangels?

I recently learned of Jobangels - a social network of people united by a single goal of reducing unemployment. Using the social media platforms, twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, Jobangels brings together people with job needs with those willing to help (click here for the complete story). Since January what started as a small group of people has grown into a national movement.

It got me to thinking how community health leaders could benefit from a similar type of effort. All too often we all work in separate silos, working silently on projects. We quietly cheer our successes and independently struggle with challenges. If community leaders could reach out to each other in this same fashion, then maybe we could grow our efforts to improve health.

Last month, we launched our LinkedIn Group Page to an overwhelming response (over 100 members the first day alone!). We will use this platform to connect those with questions or needs with information; to lend a hand and work toward a common goal, improving health.

If you have not yet joined take a moment and join today.

"Help is Here Express” Pulls into New Jersey

With New Jersey’s unemployment rate hovering around 8.3 percent, thousands of residents are facing the loss of health insurance. Many, however, may be eligible for patient assistance programs that help people without prescription drug coverage get the medicines they need for free or nearly free.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) will be among more than two dozen organizations participating in "Working Towards a Healthy Neighborhood,” a community health fair sponsored by the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick and the Georges Road Gateway Project. The event will be held

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a free, nationwide service sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical companies that connects people in need to more than 475 patient assistance programs around the country, including about 200 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. Since its 2005 launch, the program has helped more than 234,000 people in New Jersey and some 5.7 million nationwide.

PPA will have its signature orange mobile enrollment center, the "Help is Here Express,” at the fair, where specialists will help visitors research assistance programs and apply on the spot using one of the wireless computers on the mobile enrollment center.

"At a time when national unemployment is the highest in almost two decades, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance has become an important lifeline for a growing number of patients,” said Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which sponsors the PPA. "We want people in New Jersey and across the nation to know that help is available. No one is helped by a medicine that sits on the shelf and is out of reach financially.”

Bristol-Myers Squibb, whose Georges Road facility straddles New Brunswick and North Brunswick, plays an active role in neighborhood health improvement and revitalization efforts. In addition to being one of the health fair’s major partners, the company supports the Georges Road Gateway Project Task Force, which is working to guide redevelopment efforts and improve the quality of life along the Georges Road corridor.

"The Partnership for Prescription Assistance works with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and community groups to help patients with limited financial resources gain access to medicines that can extend and enhance their lives,” said Janet Loesberg, executive director of Medical Education, Grants and Assistance at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Helping to ensure patients can obtain the medicines they need is an important part of our corporate mission to extend and enhance human life.”

Now in its third year, the annual health fair of the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick brings together the city’s leading health care organizations to provide residents with health screenings and information on topics including breast cancer, prostate cancer, hypertension, lead poisoning, bicycle safety, dental health and smoking cessation.

"I believe it’s vital to promote access to medications that can help people live healthier lives,” said C. Roy Epps, president and CEO of the Civic League. "At the same time, we must also help people in the community get access to information that can promote wellness and healthy choices.”

People who are unable to attend the New Brunswick health fair and wish to learn more about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance can visit PPA’s web site (www.pparx.org) or call its toll-free number (1-888-4PPA-NOW), where trained operators field calls in 150 languages.

About the Partnership for Prescription Assistance

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a nationwide effort sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies to raise awareness about patient assistance programs and the need to effectively address the rising and alarming rates of chronic disease in the United States.

Jobangels? Could we be Community Health Angels?

I recently learned about jobangels - a movement started in late January 2009 by Mark Stelzner while he sat at his kitchen table eating cornflakes...or something like that.

The idea was that if we could each help just one person find a job then together we could make a dent in the rising unemployment rate. Using the social networking tools twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook - he provided a platform where each person could commit to a single goal: to help just one person, friend, family member, colleague or complete stranger find gainful employment (click here for the complete story). The idea resonated and this movement has linked thousands of employers with eager, committed employees.

It got me to thinking community health improvement efforts have a similar challenge. All too often we all work in separate silos, working silently on projects, quietly cheering our successes and struggling with our failures. If we could reach out to others in this same fashion, then maybe we could help each other.

This week we launched our LinkedIn Group Page to an overwhelming response (over 100 members the first day!). We will use this platform to connect those with questions or needs with information; to lend a hand and work toward a common goal, improving health.

If you have not yet joined take a moment and join today.

Kaiser Permanente Awards Community Grants

With the stresses and strains of the economic downturn, we are all looking for some good news. Four hundred non-profits received good news from Kaiser Permanente.

Kaiser Permanente Awards $13 Million in First-Quarter Grants

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente has announced community-benefit grants totaling approximately $13 million to organizations working to expand access to safety-net specialty care and improve care for the elderly.

The more than four hundred grants include $900,000 each to the East Valley Community Health Center, Kern Medical Center, Latino Health Collaborative, Valley Care Community Consortium, and Venice Family Clinic as part of the California Specialty Care Access Initiative, which is designed to increase access and reduce demand for specialty care among uninsured and underinsured populations.

Read more

Missouri Organization Empowers Individuals to Make a Difference

The Heartland Foundation located in St. Joseph, Missouri supports forward-thinking projects that create opportunities for progress and change. At the Foundation's emPowerU campus housed in a transformed warehouse building located on a federally designated Brownfields site, the Research and Solutions Center offers a unique environment for diverse groups of all ages to gather, discuss and promote leading edge ideas designed to improve a community's health and vitality. From this innovative center, a continuum of multiple activities are introduced that lead to participatory projects that encourage civic engagement, promote health, build workforce development skills and address economic realities.

Projects tackle such issues as building strong educational systems through business partnerships, health improvement for school-age children, youth civic engagement, and community collaboration and transformation. Community members gather at the campus and throughout the region to discuss various issues confronting the community. Though topics may change, the guiding principle remains clear - through collaboration and new ways of thinking individuals can improve their communities and themselves.

Youth and adults return from their visits at emPowerU with a commitment to improving their community. After completing the emPowerU immersion and the Foundation's nationally-recognized emPower Plant curriculum, one group of students from the Benjamin Banneker Charter Academy of Kansas City planted an inner-city garden with Jump Starters funding support through a partnership with Heartland Foundation and Learn and Serve America. In less than five months the garden yielded over 500 pounds of produce for the Harvesters Food Network.

Heartland Foundation's work spans a 30-county region and beyond encompassing a four state area: Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota. For more information see heartlandfoundation.org.

Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter?

In this world of 24-7 access to information -- non-profits are rapidly jumping into the fray along side corporate America. Whether it is twittering about new projects or using Facebook as a platform to reach more people, new ways of networking seem to be popping up everyday.

Recently, The Washington Post published a controversial article on the benefits of using Facebook to raise funds and profile of non-profits. The authors stated:

The Facebook application Causes, hugely popular among nonprofit organizations seeking to raise money online, has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions.

This article has been received with mixed review. Many vocal bloggers suggested the authors do not "get-it." And that their conclusions were merely old news, and that to view these applications merely through the fundraising lens is limited. They argue that success is predicated on using these sites as a general communication platform, as well as a fundraising tool.

What do you think?


What have you found most useful? for networking? for fund raising? What works for you?

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