The
Latest News from
His Branches
Contents:
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Central Arnett Block Association (CABA)
The Block Association has been very busy this summer raising community
spirit, developing our community "pocket park" known officially as the
"Arnett Bird & Butterfly Garden" on the corner of Arnett Blvd. and
Wellington Avenue, and helping Jessica with her Community Survey (see
below).
CABA also hosted the neighborhood's first Block
Party in years. It seemed like the whole neighborhood showed up! We
had mounted police, a big fire truck, balloons, face painting, Happy the clown,
gospel singing and live rap music, a Punch & Judy puppet show, and lots of
fun, food, and fellowship in the sun! For a slide show of pictures from the
Block Party, click here.
Kids just
"Happy" the Clown (our own Dick Stutzman)
Earlier in the week His Branches hosted a youth group from Pennsylvania who
dedicated an entire week of their summer vacation to urban youth ministry. They
helped us get our grounds in good shape, hosted a kids' Vacation
Bible Study in our back yard, and did a lot of neighborhood outreach.
And when Saturday arrived, they were able to stay long enough to help us set up
for the Block Party and greet the first guests before heading back home. Thanks
to all who helped!
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His Branches Leadership Team Growing
To meet the expanding services of the ministry and undergird our
conversion to Community Health Center status, His Branches has added three new
members to its Board of Directors over the past several months. Tom
Smith, Vice President of Finance for Catholic Family Center, joined our team
earlier this year, followed by Willie Joe Lightfoot,
Monroe County Legislator, and Dr. William Walence,
Director of Adult Professional Studies at Roberts Wesleyan College. All three have a vision and commitment
to fostering renewal in the lives of those who live in our neighborhood
and the city's Crescent.
We are also delighted to announce another answer to prayer: the
generous offer of Steven
Hays, Assistant Professor of Health Administration at Roberts, to serve
part-time as our new
Development Coordinator. In his new position Steve will be reaching out to
foundations, corporations, and the broader community for support as we move
forward to expand our outreach programs, especially our medical ministry.
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Community Health Center Status
Since receiving word from the
Department of Health this June that our
application to convert our medical services over to a full-fledged Community
Health Center has been granted "contingent approval" we've completed 9
of our 11 "contingencies" and have been working diligently on the
remaining 2. The most difficult one seems to be securing a $20,000 start-up
grant. Working together with our Board of Directors, Steve Hays has already
submitted a number of grant applications. If
you have any suggestions, please contact us
ASAP! As soon as we're able to
satisfy our contingencies we can move ahead with the conversion, hopefully this
fall.
Rest assured that conversion of Grace Family Medicine into a
clinic that is fully licensed by NY will only bring about positive changes in
the way we are able to care for our community.
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Neighborhood Outreach - Community Survey
| This summer we were gifted with the services of Jessica
Speares, a premedical student at Roberts Wesleyan College who
gathered a team and conducted a health resources survey of leaders and
residents in the neighborhood. She was delighted with the reception she
received and the results she was able to gather.
Here's a picture of Jessica painting a neighborhood face at our Block
Party. |
 |
In her report
to the community on August 21st, Jessica reviewed the results of her study which
revealed a need in our neighborhood for increased youth services, especially for
teenagers, and easier access to counseling and referral services. We're going to
be actively working with her and others to find some solutions this coming year.
Her full report is available as an online PowerPoint
presentation as well as in a written
outline. If you'd like to help, just give us a call!
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Beverley Timgren Visiting from Israel
 |
In mid-September, Beverley
will be back home for several weeks to report on her work among the
Lebanese refugees in northern Israel. We're looking forward to
seeing her again and hearing her perspective about the effect of
the recent war on the community she serves. If you would like to talk
with Beverley while she's here, please contact
us. In the meantime, be sure to read her most recent newsletter. |
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Fall Christian Physicians Breakfast and
Retreat
Dr. Fountain
Click
here
for
a
Retreat
Brochure
|
On Saturday morning,
September 23, 2006, medical students and community physicians will be
converging on Rochester from the Western NY region to kick off our
first Upstate MCCF Retreat with a stimulating day of feasting,
fellowship, and education. The day will start at 8:00 am with our Fall
Christian Physicians Breakfast where Dr.
Daniel Fountain, MD, MPH, will begin the first in a series of 5
informative and discussion-provoking sessions on the provocative
topic:
"What's
wrong with US health care and how can we fix it?"
Schedule
8:00
Registration and Breakfast
(note early start)
9:00
Problems with the biomedical model and the US health care
system
10:00
Restoring wholeness to medicine from both scientific and
biblical perspectives
11:00
Wholistic approaches to common psychosocial problems
Noon
Lunch,
Medical Student Gathering, and Discussion
1:30
How to do a personal and spiritual assessment
2:30
The logistics of forming a care giving team
3:30
Retreat ends |
The Retreat will be hosted at The
Meliora (Faculty Club) on the University of Rochester River Campus and
includes lunch. We'll be wrapping up by mid-afternoon on Saturday to allow those
participating to return to their full lives without undue interruption.
Physicians will be eligible to receive up to 5 hours of Category I CME credit
for their participation in the Saturday sessions. This promises to be a
wonderful time of spiritual nurture and growth and will be an ideal opportunity
to welcome medical students to a regional fellowship of faith.
Cost? $50 for practicing providers and $25 for students for all
sessions and meals. 5 CME credits are available for an additional $50 fee.
You're warmly encouraged to participate in as many of the retreat events as your
schedule will allow, so please mark your calendars and sign
up now!
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Whole Person Medicine
Workshop
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Expanding Spiritual Care
Those of you that are familiar with the medical care provided at
Grace Family Medicine know how we integrate prayer into patient visits,
believing that faith is an integral part of the recovery process. In some
difficult cases a rekindling of faith may be the only real answer to the
patient's symptoms. For the whole body to function properly there has to be a
clear balance of all the systems that the Lord created, and if one of those
systems is not functioning properly then illness is more likely to present
itself. One of the most profound and least understood systems in the medical
community is that of our spirit or spiritual nature. Very often there are things
that influence our spirit that are undetectable with modern science and thus
cannot be treated using the scientific method alone.
Dr. Fountain pioneered a
similar vision to whole person medical care in Africa while Dr. Morehouse was
pioneering the approach here in America. The two of them have connected, and their vision is to see "spiritual care-givers" planted
in medical practices all over the country. His Branches is looking for a spiritually mature, Bible believing Christian person who
is interested in working alongside our doctors to offer spiritual counsel and
prayer to individuals with maladies that modern science alone can't treat. Jesus was the Great Physician, and we believe that a team
approach to medical care that includes this new position will enhance our
ability to impact and influence the health of our community.
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2006 Christian Physicians Directory Available
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Banquet Plans Developing
We're looking for a date in March to host our first annual
community-wide banquet with hopes that we can invite Dr.
Patch Adams to help us showcase the new and exciting programs and services that
we've been
working on. We'd like as many people as possible to join with us
in celebrating our years of ministry to the city of
Rochester and our ongoing work to bridge disparities in the provision of
health care to our community. We'll be posting more information in the near
future, so check in again and start planning now to join us for this exciting
event!
Volunteers Needed:
Please consider joining our steering committee to help plan
and organize for our banquet. If you've done this before (or just want
to help) and would be interested in helping us pull this together, please contact
Steve Hays at 235-9000 for more information.
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Fundraising to Meet the Challenges of
Growth!
We're asking those who've been connected to this
ministry in any way over the years to consider making a one-time donation or
regular pledge commitment to His Branches. We need resources to expand our medical and crisis pregnancy
ministries, develop our new counseling
center, do much-needed building renovations and maintenance, and much more. No gift is
too small or too large to be received and used wisely in building God's
Kingdom here in Rochester. We're grateful for any contribution you can offer - all donations are fully
tax-deductible. Contact Steve Hays at 235-9000, mail your gift in, or
donate online using the "Just Give" link below:
|
His
Branches, Inc.
342
Arnett Boulevard
Rochester,
NY 14619
|
or |
|
Thank you for
your prayerful consideration of how you might be able to strengthen ministry
with your gifts and talents. God Bless you!
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Contact
The Grapevine: Please let us know what you think about our
ministry and how you feel we could be more fruitful. You may also add a friend's name or have your name and contact information either
added to or removed from our mailing list by just sending your request by e-mail
to our office.
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