“I got you this plant hoping that every day you look at it you understand how important you are in my life…You took the time to talk to me. You even called me at home to see how I was doing. I am so grateful.…When you have people in your life that care about you, you don’t mess with it. Thank you.”

This is a portion of a letter from a very grateful patient to one of our practitioner’s. He is partially blind but painstakingly took the time to write out this two-page letter because of the importance of his relationship to the Center.

The plant - a living, thriving thing of beauty - and his implied question - do you understand how important you are in my life - are a profound message for all of us who work at and support St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center.

Let me share with you some of the things you make possible. On a weekly basis the Center receives close to 50 calls from individuals seeking health care or mental health services. These are people new to us, who may or may not be eligible for public insurance products, but do not know how to access health care or the system that is currently set up to assist them.

Everyone is listened to, assessed for insurance eligibility and placed in a health care situation. We are trying to trend ahead of the Affordable Care Act so that we are serving the best interests of our patients now and going forward.

Dental residents from Rochester General Hospital, under the supervision of Dr. Tony Lister, come to the Center Tuesday evenings to give the full range of dental care to our patients, especially diabetic patients for whom oral health is crucial to maintaining their overall health.

St. Joseph’s is a primary site in the region for the practice of and training in Narrative Therapy. Narrative Therapy is an alternative to traditional psychotherapy. It transforms the power differential between the client and therapist and exposes social factors which may contribute to behavioral disorders.

Women On The Move and Women’s Self Esteem are two programs that have assisted hundreds of women in moving along the growth continuum towards economic and personal sustainable, self-sufficiency.

St. Joseph’s staff provides supervision at a Master’s or licensure level for eight counseling program areas in the Rochester area. Approximately thirty long term students and eighty short term students are mentored annually.

None of the patients and clients who are served would be served without you. None of the activities planned everyday would be possible without you. None of our future plans and programs could be envisioned without your support. That is why the question at the end is the same as at the beginning - Do you understand how important you are to the Center? To the lives of those we serve? It is a profound question to us. Thank you for the sacrifice and investment you make in the community by your investment in St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center.

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

As you scan this Newsletter, I am asking you to take a breath and settle into reading this first article. The following lines were written by one of the graduates of our Women On The Move Class of 2012 for their final celebration in May. She opens her heart to expose profound changes in her life, and at the same time she thanks all those who made the circumstances for those changes possible. This includes you, the Center’s donors and volunteers – all those who believe that change is possible and investment in others is never futile.

“Dear St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center,
I am convinced that you are special angels sent from Heaven above. Thank you for saving my life; through the grace of God you were instrumental in keeping me alive. I learned of St. Joseph’s years ago through a co-worker. She told me about a place that took care of people that didn’t have health insurance; at times I would leave when I was fortunate enough to have a job and obtain health insurance, but each time I lost it I was fortunate enough to come back to St. Joseph’s.

I was depressed and broken and each time I was taken back, welcomed back, with open arms and lots of love, overwhelming love. When I began the Women On The Move (Program) I didn’t believe it would make any difference in my life, believing that I was born with depression. I also believed that eventually depression would inevitably cause me to take my own life. Even on medication, for the most part, I was suicidal. But with so much love, so much care, so much attention, so much support, I began to recover from abuse, from low self-esteem, from depression.

Through the Women On The Move I met women who were in common with me. I learned that I was not alone. I met beautiful women that had the courage to open up and expose their wounds and pains…friends. I never, ever believed, I did not believe, that in this year 2012 or any other year in this life time, that I would ever say (without medications) I am not depressed, I am not suicidal. But I am special and I matter.

I love St. Joseph’s and the people, the angels, that make St. Joseph’s possible. From the depths of my soul I am grateful. Thank you for allowing God to use you to save my life.”

This wonderful woman was brave enough to enter a nine month program when she had grave doubts, rooted in depression, that anything could possibly help her in her misery. She emerged from the other side of this experience with a whole new vision and sense of light.

This is what the Neighborhood Center is about in its essence – welcome people where they are, embrace them with what they need, help them do the work they need to do for as long as they need to do it, rejoice at the successes and learn from the times we fail.

You are everywhere in this story. For nineteen years you, our supporters and donors, have kept the Neighborhood Center not only open, but thriving and growing to meet the needs of our community. You need to know that you have saved lives. Whether it is drawing someone back from suicide or diagnosing cancer and arranging treatment, or procuring medications or vaccinating children – you are saving lives with everything that you give.

Our horizon is bright and we are reaching for it in the best ways we know how. Please keep traveling with us. Please accept our profound thanks. Please keep touching lives with your generosity.

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

I believe that some of the most courageous people in our midst are those who commit their lives to the science and practice of medicine – to the art of healing. The profession of medicine is supported by centuries of science and acquired knowledge about the body, its systems, its reactions to the environment and trauma, and the diseases that attack it. But with all that, the body and the mind remain a huge mystery, keeping many secrets of wellness and sickness still beyond our grasp – thrusting our medical professionals into an arena where science and art must interact for the best outcome.

Those who are willing to enter this arena of healing by combining what they know of science and what they can discern by careful listening and artful combinations of information know they enter a sacred realm – one where they may not feel certain at times about the cure, but the mission to preserve and improve life is always clear.

I have the utmost respect for those who devote their lives to the art and science of medicine. I especially want to thank those in the health care and mental health fields who volunteer their time at the Neighborhood Center to help those in need of care, who have no financial safely net to support them. You are daily heroes who combine art and science with
grace and care for our neighbors in need.

I have also had the privilege over the last few months of being with others in our community who work in the advocacy area of health care. And, I have experienced the same level of commitment to the mixture of art and science in their work on behalf of others as I have seen in the medical community.

By January 1, 2014, Health Insurance Exchanges called for by the Federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) must be ready in each state to provide a marketplace for everyone to purchase health insurance with subsidies appropriate to their income levels.

As the Center has participated in the dialogue about how these Exchanges will be constructed and managed, I have met many amazing people on the local and state level, dedicated to getting this monumental effort “right.” They combine what they know of systems, the science part, with a listening ear to what people want, what works best, what is “user friendly” and what will serve the people of the community in the best way – the artful part. These are not politicians, these are the people in the trenches who want the system to work for as many people as possible, and they are trudging uphill right now.

It strikes me that I can take these excellent examples of the combination of art and science and translate them into my own life. Perhaps you can also. I have learned some things in sixty years through a lot of mistakes and making the effort to try again, and watching others wiser than me and learning from them. Maybe that is the science part. Trying, experimenting, looking at results, trying again, developing my own database.

And then there is the artful part. I think the art has a lot to do with just being quiet and listening; to gathering in what is actually happening, to what is being said out loud and between the lines by those around me. I think a listening ear and heart has to do with taking what we hear and mixing it with what we have come to know over our life time, and then drawing conclusions and taking action.

I believe there is a science and art to life that is learned. The lessons are all around us. I invite you to say thank you to your doctors and nurses. Say a prayer for those trying to fix health care for everyone. Train your listening ear to hear what is around you.

Thank you for your discerning and caring hearts. Thank you for supporting the work of the Center in the many ways that you do.

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

Whether you are a Master Gardener or a master of benign neglect as far as plants go, gardening has a certain amount of faith attached to it. We hold a seed or a small sprout, we cover it with soil, give it some water, maybe a little plant food or some mulch, hope the sun shines and that the rain falls. We may pray that dangers along the way don’t break its spirit, like those choking weeds, hungry critters, and funny fungus. Maybe we will, in due time, have flowers or vegetables and claim ourselves brilliant farmers and friends of the earth.

It is an easy metaphor to play with for our real life backyard gardens. But, in truth, we are gardeners all the time. We are planting seeds all the time. We are planting seeds with each interaction we have during our day. With each encounter we leave something behind that has the potential to take root and grow. What will these encounters
grow into? Which ones will grow and bear good fruit? Which ones will whither and die?

Most of these “seeds of encounter” we don’t even realize we have planted, and most we will never know the fruit they will bear. Teachers don’t see students again; parents do their best and pray and hope; friends and classmates drift apart; chance encounters don’t even register.

A seed bore fruit at the Neighborhood Center recently in one of the women who graduated last year in our “Women On The Move” Program. This is a demanding program entailing weekly meetings for nine months with a goal of attaining economic self-sufficiency. The women in this program are courageous and tenacious and create bonds with each other which survive well past the end of the program.

Unfortunately, a home accident took the life of one of these women several weeks ago. This happened at a time when the seeds planted at the Center had taken root in her life and she was blossoming in ways her family and friends had not
seen in many years.

We did not know how deeply the Center had touched her until we were told that she had named the Center as the sole beneficiary of her estate because it was here that she had found her life again.

We never know….. We never know what fruit the seeds of our actions will bear.

With this Newsletter we are launching our 2011 Annual Appeal. You receive Neighbor-to-Neighbor because you have supported the work of the Center through the years. With your help you have enabled programs such as Women On The Move to function – many of these women now have full time jobs, are home owners, or are on a career path.

You have supported countless people getting the health care and counseling assistance they need when they have no insurance. Currently we are scheduling over 26,000 appointments annually. In the last seven months we have helped over 1,500 individuals find health care either at the Center or in some other appropriate place with one of our
community partners.

We cannot do this work without you. We receive no other funding but the support from the community. We rely on you and the hard work of the 250+ volunteers who give us over 1,000 hours a month in time and talent to serve our neighbors and make a healthier community.

I ask only what you are able to give. I ask that you let others know about the Center, and I ask for your prayers for the volunteers, the staff and for our patients and clients. Health Is A Community Effort….You Are Our Community!

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

A few years ago a good friend gave me a small metal sculpture of a stick like figure holding a fishing line with a lovely fish on the end. When I place it on the edge of my bookcase, the figure and fish balance each other perfectly and actually can rock back and forth in a beautiful dance - perfect balance; each helping the other; each borrowing just enough from the other’s energy and resources to stay in harmony.

In the past few months I have received two heartfelt notes from donors with their anonymous gifts where they expressed their feelings that our requests for donations were  too many and too frequent. Without their names I was not able to respond to them personally, but they most certainly piqued my interest and thought. And so, as I respond to them, I share my reflections with all of you.

Our work at the Center is primarily about serving our neighbors in the community, those in our midst from all over Monroe County who do not have health care, access to mental health counseling, no dental services, or just do not know where to turn to get help. As you know, our patients and clients are served by a large volunteer staff of 250 who themselves come from all over the community. Matching these volunteers and patients/clients is, in itself, a huge balancing act.

All of our communications with you, whether it is this Newsletter, an invitation to an event, an announcement, or our fall or spring appeal, is meant to bring you news of the Center first, and yes, there will always be an opportunity, if you wish, to contribute financially or in other ways.

We need you, first and foremost to be ambassadors of the Center, to let people know we are here to help, to let them know of our services, to be informed of how health care is playing out for the uninsured in our community.

We would also like you to accept our invitations to make donations to the Center as you are able, and not see them as a burden. Your contribution may be something from our wish list, it may be an offering of prayer, it may be a large or small financial donation, but only you can judge what keeps you in balance and in harmony. I ask you to keep your hearts open to the news of the Center, which is really news about our neighbors in need, and then always pay attention to that which keeps your own life in balance.

I want to say thank you to everyone who contributed in any way to the success of our annual event, the Festa Italiana this year. It was spectacular – beyond our wildest  dreams! Thank you to all who attended and I know you will want to mark your calendars for next year’s event, Wednesday, June 6, 2012.

There are lots of happenings in the health care world which we will keep you apprised of as the months roll on into the fall. Please let anyone you know who is not getting the health care attention they need to call the Neighborhood Center for an intake appointment – we are also looking for health care, mental health and general volunteers. Just  give us a call. Enjoy the summer.

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

It’s 5:30 AM on the morning of supposedly the “Big Snow Storm” of the winter. I am imagining you reading this about a few weeks from now, remembering the snow, the commute to work, the school cancellations and hoping spring comes pretty soon.

What am I doing at work at 5:30 AM writing the newsletter? Just taking care of business. Coming in early to check out the roads. Getting a sense of what the volunteers, patients and clients will have to face this morning and how we might have to tailor the day. Doing a little shoveling before we hit the sidewalks with the snow blower.

It is also very quiet here now. In these early days of the new year when politicians are delivering their “States of the Government” addresses, I get to think about the “State of the Center.” It is pretty amazing really.

At the end of 2010 we were experiencing a surge of calls from people who had never been to the Center before, “new patients” to us. Those coming to us for the first time present a challenge of medical assessment, history taking, record gathering and often they present with very complex health conditions that have not been attended to for awhile because of lack of insurance. Quality care in this instance takes quite a bit more time than for an established patient.

(more…)

We received a card from one of our patients with the following words of thanks for the care that she receives at the Center.

“Thank you for taking such good care of me and thank you for not judging me because I don’t have medical insurance.”

This message is addressed to you because your support makes her care possible. I cannot tell you how many people express profound thanks for the assistance they receive at the Center. It could be for medical or counseling care. It could be for a connection, a referral, a voucher for eye glasses. It could be for dental work or a loaf of bread from the waiting room. It doesn’t matter what the kindness is. What matters is the welcome, the listening and the response.

I was very moved by her words and by the fact that she took the time to express her gratitude. But I was also very moved, and
even disturbed, when I read of her gratitude for “not being judged” for her lack of health insurance. That says to me that in other
settings she has experienced discrimination, stereotyping and harsh treatment at being deemed “less than” because of her nsurance situation.

We all share the costly space in the precarious “health care boat” that is our present system. If we have insurance we are
grateful. If we do not have coverage, we worry. None of us wants our self-worth assessed by the state of our health coverage.

When you make a donation to St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center you “turn the health care tide” for thousands of people and
you do it in two very profound ways. First, you provide life giving and often life saving services for our patients and clients. You help detect and manage disease; you help keep children healthy; you provide counseling and social services; you help with medications.

Second, you help change the culture. By not judging someone’s character based on their economic or social situation, you are saying, “We are all neighbors. We must look out for one another.”

We strive every day to honor your gifts – to use them to change lives and to make positive change in the community. I humbly ask you to continue your support and to increase it if you can.

The prospects for reform of our national health care system are dim at this point, while the specter of more people losing their health insurance looms large. The day we opened our doors on December 8, 1993 the newspaper carried a headline that read “Miracle on South Avenue.” That miracle lives on today because of you and your support. You have accomplished much and there is still much to do – let us continue to work the miracle together.

–Christine Wagner, SSJ

Click here to read the rest of the March 2010 Newsletter.

            Recently I saw two TV news items that happened to be featured back to back.  The first was a story on the new toy rage Webkinz, plush toys that come in two sizes, 48 different varieties and are accompanied with a universe of accessories and computer games.  Prices range from $9.99-18.99 each. 

            The second was a feature on world hunger using data from the United Nations stating that someone dies in the world every 5 seconds from hunger and/or disease caused by contaminated water.  Three dollar donations to agencies feeding the world’s hungry makes an immeasurable difference.

            Populating the Webkinz universe:  $9.99 to $500+

            Feeding hungry children:  Priceless

Christine Wagner, SSJ