This week Care Ring had the very good fortune of hosting the 19th United States Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, during his listening tour around the country.
Many of Dr. Murthy’s core priorities – preventing sickness, reversing childhood obesity and encouraging community partnerships to solve community health challenges – align with Care Ring’s mission.
We brought together senior leaders from across Charlotte and North Carolina to meet with Dr. Murthy in our headquarters in the Children and Family Services Center Building in uptown Charlotte. We gave Dr. Murthy a tour of our clinic and shared with him our vision for how Care Ring empowers individuals with limited resources to establish and maintain good health.
Our staff, board members, and community partners came together to share our ideas on improving community health.
So why did the US Surgeon General shine a light on our work and engage with us in Charlotte? We are far from perfect – I’ve got plenty of flaws and am a work in progress for sure! – but I think there are seven core reasons we were provided this opportunity:
1. We are a trusted community partner
2. We are a convener and a connector
3. We are a proven provider of critical health services – with decades of experience running a low-cost clinic serving Charlotte’s working poor
4. We have the ability to nurture and grow and sustain community health initiatives – with fresh evidence in the sustainability and growth of Physicians Reach Out and Nurse-Family Partnership
5. We have remarkable staff leadership – truly the most talent group of committed life-improvers. I have had the pleasure of working along side
6. We have a committed and passionate board
7. We foster an open and inclusive vibe. We embrace our partners in the community who serve next to us in the community. We celebrate and support our fellow poverty-fighting friends and welcome their partnership.
January 28, 2015 was a red-letter day for Care Ring – and one of my proudest moments since joining Care Ring as executive director back in 2012.
#CareRing #DonJonas