Rebecca Ramsay. MPH
As the first buds of spring begin to emerge across our beautiful landscape so, too, is a renewed focus on community engagement unfolding here at Housecall Providers. While many will say that we have been engaging the community since our beginnings – building relationships with caregivers, facilities and providers to offer in-home medical care – our goal for this year is to nourish those seeds of engagement and strengthen our community even more. The pandemic has shown us that resiliency is a delicate quality that is strengthened, not by a single hero that saves us when times present serious challenges, but rather when our networks are strong enough to keep us working together and supporting each other when times are good and when challenges confront the entire community. In short, we are better when we are together.
Stronger network of inclusion
Community engagement matures over time – growing from small interactions into a network of partnerships, reciprocal relationships and cooperation. When we connect with others in our community, we care for those interactions and grow our capacity to serve together. We become more resilient – together. As we work to contribute as an asset for the whole Portland-metro community by providing health care for our most at-risk members, our focus on community engagement will help us build a stronger network of inclusion, cooperation and service.
Fine-tuning our listening ear
First and foremost, as a community-based, nonprofit organization, we want to fine-tune our listening ear so we can truly absorb the exchanges and information that flow from the populations we serve. We want to make sure we hear what is truly being requested and how we can facilitate connections that address those needs. As part of that fine-tuning, we are also committing to slowing down to understand the ways we can course correct and improve our engagement with underserved communities, in order to bring the benefits of in-home medical care to all who need it.
We have assembled a group that includes staff from all our programs and members of our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee. Its purpose is twofold. First, identify and connect with other community-based organizations serving a similar population to create a caring and engaged network. And second, to strengthen our existing relationships and create a foundation for community to engage around the health care needs of homebound and seriously ill members. We look forward to updating you on our progress and to highlight those partnerships here in the Patient’s Advocate and throughout our social media channels.
In community,
