Boulder Fall Festival

Boulder Fall Festival on Pearl Street Mall was a weekend-long event that gave People's Clinic Outreach incredible exposure. The outreach unit was set up right on Pearl and Broadway, a very high traffic area. We were there for a total of over 20 hours over the weekend. A sign reading "No health insurance? Talk to me." In both English and Spanish encouraged folks to stop by and discuss how People's Clinic delivers primary and preventative care for the uninsured and medically underserved.



On Friday evening we were joined by Nikki Smyrl Gross, the regional outreach coordinator for Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). CHP+ helps cover children and pregnant women who are not eligible for Medicaid but still have a need for medical coverage. Nikki brought printed information about CHP+ as well as lots of giveaways including water bottles, growth charts, visors, and color changing pencils. She left us the perfect amount of giveaways to last through the weekend. The items were great in drawing folks to the table to chat.



Amy Comer RN, PCA Karen Canales, and Dr. Pamela Guthrie shared their clinical expertise offering free blood pressure checks to the public. The street noise from cars and occasional motorcycles passing by made conditions for blood pressure checks a bit less than optimal. Often it was necessary to wait for the traffic to go by before being able to take a reading. Even so, a total of 48 people had their blood pressure checked over the weekend. Offering this valuable service was one of the most crucial components of the event. As people and their families and friends stopped at the table for a blood pressure check, the opportunity was there to discuss medical coverage and the services the clinic offers. Even if someone did have health insurance and a medical home, they are likely to know someone who doesn't.



We collected at total of $59.55 that day, mostly thanks to Pamela, Amy and Karen. People who had their blood pressure checked were the most compelled to leave a little something in the collection bin. We are also very thankful to the organizers of the Boulder Fall Festival for giving us a wonderful space at the festival at no cost.

We were able to reach so many people without health insurance in need of a medical home. We look forward to serving them here at People's Clinic.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE!!

Festival para la Unidad / Festival for Unity

On Saturday, September 17th, People's Clinic Outreach participated in the Festival para la Unidad / Festival for Unity hosted by Centro AMISTAD at the Boulder Bandshell. We were there to link the community to primary and preventative health care, offer free blood pressure screening, and provide free bi-lingual health information on general health and Diabetes.

Patient Care Advocate / Medical Assistant Diane Asher was there to offer free blood pressure screening to the community. People's Clinic Outreach was able to borrow a lovely canopy tent from Carey McClure for the event.

Not having yet received our table cover with log that has been ordered for outreach, we improvised using a colorful table cover.

The festival was a celebration of the independence of Latin American countries as well as AMISTAD's fifth anniversary. There was live music including Cumbia, Merengue, Latin Jazz and Mariachis. There were Latin American Folkloric dancers, food, and a climbing wall for kids.

Latin American Folkloric Dancers invoking the four directions.

Members of Mariachi Original de Mexico.

Climbing wall for kids.

Folks enjoying music by Los Chicos del Ritmo

The festival also had plenty of traditional foods including chilindrinas and tostadas.

United Way Expo at NIST/NOAA

For September Events look for the link under "Previous Posts" or scroll down.

On September 12th, Peoples Clinic Outreach participated at a United Way Expo at the grounds of the National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) & the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The event was a venue for non-profit organizations that partner with Foothills United Way to showcase thier services to the employees of these two agencies. Both workplaces participate in the United Way Workplace Giving Campaign. This is a campaign which allows employees to designate a non-profit organization of their choice to receive a charitable donation in the amount of their choice to be deducted from thier paycheck. Employeess can select to offer a one time donation or to schedule a recurring deduction over a period of time.

The event featured a large employee picnic and entertainment. There were approximately 12 local non-profits represented at the event. During the 2 hour event People's Clinic staff spoke to over 50 employees from NOAA and NIST, highlighting several key points about the clinic. Key talking points for that day included the fact that People's Clinic is the third largest provider of medical care in the Boulder area. The clinic is the largest provider of medical care for the uninsured and medically underserved in the area. Last year we saw nearly 9,000 patients totaling well over 36,000 doctor visits. We also handed out over 50 brochures and several donor folders containing our Key Facts sheet. We were also sure to mention that People's Clinic identification number for the United Way Workplace Giving Campaign is 6015.

It was a successfull event in which we also learned that NIST is where they developed the atomic clock, among the most accurate clocks in the world. The clock is one of many that are used to keep the official US time.

SEPTEMBER OUTREACH EVENTS

Festival por la Unidad - Latino Festival for Unity
September 17th - noon-7 p.m. at the Boulder Bandshell
Honoring the independence of all Latin American Countries and Celebrating the 5th anniversary of El Centro AMISTAD "For Social Change and the Struggle for Immigrant Rights".
People's Clinic Outreach will have a booth with health & clinic information, & blood pressure screening.

Boulder Fall Festival
September 29 - 5:00p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
September 30 & October 1st - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
On the Pearl Street Mall
People's Clinic Outreach will have a booth with health & clinic information, & blood pressure screening.

Outreach Efforts Begin!

People's Clinic has just launched a new outreach program. The overall goal of the outreach program is to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals in the community by raising health awareness and linking people to primary and preventative health care services. Outreach efforts consist mainly of:

• Participating in community events
• Distributing brochures to key locations
• Targeting the local business community to reach uninsured workers
• Networking with other local service organizations
• Hosting health fairs and participating in awareness campaigns
• Performing targeted outreach and on-site enrollement for services

Events and activities so far:

* Today, September 8th, we participated in a Summer Festival for at-risk youth hosted by Family Tree Gemini Outreach at the Boulder Bandshell. We set up a small display with our brochures and with giveaways (magnets in the shape of a band-aid with our name and phone). Twenty four adolecents participated in the event which included a B.B.Q, music, and other community resources such as the Boulder County Health Department's HIV and STI Outreach, and the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence.

* In the past week we have personally distributed over 570 clinic brochures in English and Spanish to 10 different organizations in Boulder. We have over 70 organizations to visit still. Some of the organizations visited include:

• Genesis - A program for pregnant and parenting teens and their families
• Emergency Family Assistance
• Special Transit
• Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence
• West Boulder Senior Center
• Exempla Medical Center
• The Vet Center
• Boulder County Public Health - Sundquist site

* On August 9th, during National Health Center Week, the clinic hosted the first annual Women's Health Fair. Free clinical breast exams, pap smears and mammograms were provided for women who qualified. This event was very important in raising awareness about breast and cervical cancer. Mammograms and Pap tests save lives because cancer can be cured when it is found early.

* On August 31st we completed the preparation of the program's strategic plan for the year. In this document we clearly mapped out the goals and objectives for the program and detailed the activities we will implement to achieve our goals. We welcome opportunities to discuss our strategic plan with other organizations that have an interest in sharing ideas for community outreach.

* And finally, today we launched this blog to chronicle our efforts and to announce our events and activities.