As our community continues to face a tight economy and shrinking budgets, the Daily Record has established this feature that will each week chronicle the efforts of local nonprofit organizations.
Bailey Publishing & Communications invites all members of the local nonprofit community to submit news, announcements, success stories and any other information they believe would be of interest to our readers. Email submissions to: [email protected].
We also encourage our readers to become more aware of the needs of these worthy organizations as they continue to provide valuable services with reduced resources.
Rotary gift provides mobile health clinic
St. Vincent’s HealthCare is growing its mobile health outreach ministry with the help of the Rotary Clubs in North Florida. The organization provided a gift that will allow St. Vincent’s to upgrade and expand its fleet of mobile clinics.
The St. Vincent’s Mobile Health Outreach Clinic is a “doctor’s office on wheels” that will travel throughout North Florida to serve children and their families who are medically underserved.
The unit will make available medical services that range from providing school children immunizations and school or sports physicals to health screenings, diagnostic testing and disease management for adults.
Last year St. Vincent’s Mobile Health Outreach Ministry provided nearly 30,000 free patient services, more than 8,400 for children.
“St. Vincent’s HealthCare is grateful to the Rotary Clubs of Northeast Florida for this generous gift that allows us to continue our commitment to serve those who are most in need,” said Moody Chisholm, president and CEO of St. Vincent’s HealthCare.
“We are so proud and thankful that Rotary has chosen to entrust our mobile health outreach program to exemplify their commitment to ‘service above self.’ The need for increased access to health care for underserved and uninsured children and families has grown substantially in our community. This mobile health unit will bring care to the doorsteps of the most vulnerable people in our region,” he said.
More than 29 member clubs of Rotary International District 6970 participated in the initiative in commemoration of the organization’s 100 years of service to communities in Northeast Florida.
Staffed by St. Vincent’s Mobile Health Outreach staff, the new unit will join two others in providing free medical care for children and their families.
“A gift to the community honoring Rotary’s 100 years of service is an integral part of our centennial observance. Our organization is proud to be part of the St. Vincent’s partnership,” said Howard Dale, president of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville.
Snow forecast for Saturday
Snow is not usually in the forecast for St. Johns County, but from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Durbin Creek Elementary will host its 4th annual “DCE Cares Snow Much Day.”
There will be 14 tons of snow blown onto a play area and a 30-foot hay bale slide to give children an opportunity to play in the snow and help others in need.
The admission proceeds will be donated to charities that include Dreams Come True, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and Relay For Life.
“We continue to try and find unique activities for Snow Day that will bring the community together and encourage Durbin Creek Elementary students to think about others through the Kids Helping Kids arm of Dreams Come True, the only locally based nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses,” said Jeralyn Forcier, event organizer.
Admission for the day is $12 per child 3 years of age and older.
To learn more about DCE Cares Snow Much Day and the activities and charities involved, contact Forcier at [email protected] or 254-7533.
Artists raise awareness of homelessness
The Sulzbacher Center and The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens chose four artists as winners in the “Artists Against Homelessness” competition: Adrian Pickett of the Adrian Pickett Gallery; Moses Floyd, a former U.S. Marine; and local artists Roger Winter and Sarai Levinson.
Client Focused Media and The Jacksonville BUZZ Magazine partnered with the Sulzbacher Center and the Cummer to offer an opportunity for artists to exhibit their talent and fight homelessness in the community.
“The subject of the art is to relate to stories of people affected by homelessness and raise awareness that people are homeless for many different reasons, not just drugs and alcohol addictions,” said Mike White, president of Client Focused Media.
Hope McMath, director of the Cummer, and Cindy Funkhouser, president and CEO of Sulzbacher Center, chose Pickett’s piece titled “Faces of the Homeless” to be displayed at the Cummer.
“I think our arts community is extraordinary for their dedication to getting involved in the needs of our city,” said McMath.
“From homelessness to health care and from education to downtown development, there is hardly any cause not positively impacted by our local artists,” she said.
“Homelessness in Jacksonville today is overwhelmingly due to crisis poverty. We ask people during our intake process, ‘what barrier brought you to the street?’ By a 2-1 margin, the answer is crisis poverty like loss of a job or loss of housing,” said Funkhouser
“The No. 2 and No. 3 barriers given are substance abuse and mental health. Prior to the recession those were always the No. 1 and No. 2 reasons given. The face of homelessness has now become families and children,” she said.