Double your impact on Giving Tuesday
Letter from our Executive Director, Mike
It’s been an exciting year at His Branches. We’ve had the opportunity to see more than 600 new patients join our practice since January. We’ve also been able to increasingly diversify our staff and patient population by providing care for Spanish speakers neighbors at both offices. Additionally, our community development efforts have led to a collaboration with neighbors and community agencies by which we’ve created safer and more universally accessible streets around our 19th Ward building. It truly has been a year of creating hope both on a large scale, and through simple yet supportive conversations with our patients each day.
As we work to remove barriers to health care for our neighbors, as an organization, we continue to face barriers of our own. An ever increasing gap between the cost of providing care and decreases and delays in reimbursements from payors are threatening our ability to meet the needs of our neighbors. Pharmaceutical companies continue to attack access to savings (340B Program) by which we support patients through our case management services. Even while seeking grant funding from private foundations, priority is given toward technological gadgets in specialty care instead of aligning with the needs of primary care patients whose preventative care can reduce trips to and costs of specialty referrals. Something's got to give.
I’ve always been told that, as leaders, we need to position our requests to donors from strength. And I think that is true. But today’s message is not about our strength, but YOURS. Throughout our history of providing quality and accessible care that meets immediate needs and points to ultimate hope in Christ, YOU have been the ones who provide resources our team leverages for good. Our need for you is as great as ever.
As 2023 is coming to an end, it’s a great time to consider sharing a financial gift that empowers our team to continue meeting needs on our way to SERVING 1% of Greater Rochester toward their maximum health potential. The best time is to share a gift on Giving Tuesday (or ROC the Day here locally) during which we have an opportunity with some of our strategic partners to double your impact for our patient assistance fund. You can read more about that below.
The next best opportunity is to make a one-time gift between now and year’s end. Those gifts will be used to cover medical and operational expenses associated with providing care to patients in need. By giving at either time, you’ll be helping us to create both immediate and forever hope for those in our City.
Health Education for Refugee Families
Because of the safe haven established for incoming refugee families by World Relief of WNY, we had a turnout of about 50 people total for our first couple sessions in a monthly series of ESL Classes sponsored by OACES. Taught by one of our skilled nurses, Wilfredo, his sessions have addressed the overall importance of nutrition and health care, the importance of vaccinations, and how and where to find preventative care. Our team answered many questions related to the medical experiences New Americans face upon entry to the country that lead to confusion. Our third talk will focus on understand the importance of mental health as a part of whole person care. The majority of participants at these events were from regions of Afghanistan and Ukraine.
In addition to health literacy, these conversations provide an opportunity for New Americans to practice conversational English in order to help better integrate into the community and workforce of Rochester. We’re excited to partner with these individuals and organizations to provide a personal touch and profession care to the growing population of refugees in our community.
Thank you to everyone who came out to our Five Guys “Do Good, Eat Good” night and to those who participated in our Dibella’s Dine to Donate week! We received just over $400 in donations from those restaurant partners that goes directly into meeting immediate needs in our Patient Assistance Fund.
We have another opportunity to do good on behalf of our community and make an impact in the lives of real people this Giving Tuesday, also known locally as Roc the Day! It is one of, if not THE, largest single day each year for radical generosity. His Branches is leveraging money given on this day to (1) support our patient assistance fund, through which we meet practical needs of impoverished patients for food, clothing, prescriptions, etc. as well as (2) help launch telehealth spaces within community-based organizations in order to expand the availability of medical/mental health care where people already live and move.
We are thrilled to collaborate with several corporate partners to offer multiple MATCH opportunities over the course of the day to help you multiply your impact!! If we maximize each match, we’d received more than $10,000 to support patients’ needs. If you’d like to chat about how to strategically plan your donation on that day, feel free to reach out to Mike ahead of time. Follow our social media channels this week for more information, and we hope you join in with our community of supporters on November 28th! We look forward to celebrating the impact of your generosity with you.
The Street Project
The culmination of our recent Complete Streets Makeover adjacent to our office was celebrated a few weeks ago at a screening of The Street Project, with a short video featuring this project. The evening included a live panel of community members and leaders led by Wade Norwood, CEO of Common Ground Health, with our Executive Director Mike Weston, local artist, Richmond Futch, President of the 19th Ward Community Association, Josie McClary, and Farasa Brown, a community member and advocate who lost her son this summer to a fatal truck accident. The panel led a discussion on the challenges and potential of our transportation infrastructure, equity issues, and street design with people in mind.
The next opportunity to participate in one of these events is on Dec 6 at The Hungerford. These films are part of a series by our friends at Reconnect Rochester with a goal to “identify, explain and discuss complex transportation concepts, and facilitate community conversation about the current state and future possibilities for mobility in Rochester.” We encourage you to attend and learn more about The Rochester Street Films below explored topics including accessibility, poverty, urban exploration and car culture. You can register HERE and also view past videos from The Street Project addressing various areas and issues in Rochester HERE.
Easy Access = Greater Lifespan with the Mammovan
Yesterday, the UR Medicine Mammography Van held it’s very first event at our 19th Ward location making screenings available right to our patients outside our door! Regular screenings for women 40+ can lead to early detection and more effective treatment, reducing breast cancer mortality by 30% over the past 20 years. We were able to serve 20 women by making this essential and life-saving procedure even more accessible to our neighbors.
Career Opportunities!
We are currently looking to welcome three new individuals to our team! Available job openings:
If you, or someone you know, is looking to advance your career by serving our neighborhoods, this is a great opportunity. Visit HERE to access our employment application.
