The numbers are in from our first MLKHC clinic day!

First Presbyterian Church sponsored a clinic day at the Martin Luther King Health Center on April 9, 2013. Our $1000 investment in the clinic returned $39,059.06 in direct healthcare to our community! Below is a breakdown of these numbers.

• 19 patients received primary care visits – valued at $2,185.
• 26 patients received pharmacy services – 203 prescriptions were dispensed valued at $31,238.06. One of these patients was a referral from a local hospital who was being discharged, with six prescriptions, and received emergency medications valued at $591.13.
• 26 patients received medication management education and review – valued at $988.
• 11 patients received laboratory services – valued at $759.
• 21 volunteers provided services – valued at $3,859.

Total value of direct healthcare services provided: $39,059.06

First Presbyterian is sponsoring two more clinic days next month – May 14 & May 23. The Presbyterian Women also have two clinic days coming up with hopes for a third – April 18 & July 9 – and their clinic days are focused on women’s health. If you are interested in learning more about the work that the Martin Luther King Health Center does, feel free to stop by on one of our clinic days to get a firsthand look, or check out their website at www.mlkhealth.org.

Clean Water

 

Eric Gnann sent a picture of him drinking clean water from the filtration system that the Living Waters team installed in Gonaïves, Haiti.  What a testimonial.  The pump and filtration system will be dedicated this afternoon.  Stay tuned for more details.

How we can help: Fuller Center for Housing

The youth volunteering for the Fuller Center during VBS 2011

The Fuller Center for Housing in Northwest Louisiana started up in 2005 and built its first home in 2006 following Hurricane Katrina. They began with four houses all sponsored by area churches (including First Presbyterian). Today, they have built 45 new and affordable homes- 43 in the Allendale community, one in Cedar Grove, and another in Bossier. 100% of the homes built are occupied, and 95% of homeowners are original applicants. Before any work can begin on their own house, applicants must volunteer with the Fuller Center for 200 hours; they then must complete 150 hours on their own homes. The cost to build a house estimated at $75,000, and mortgage over the course of 20 years costs no more than $400 a month (including insurance). The Fuller Center has four houses lined up for spring 2013 in the Stoner Hill neighborhood, and they are currently working with the VOA to identify veterans who will be moving into these homes.

The Greater Blessings Program is another project of the Fuller Center. What they do is rehabilitate existing owner-occupied homes, and projects often consist of exterior home painting, construction of handicap accessible ramps, roof and floor repairs, window replacements, insulation, weatherization, and plumbing/electrical upgrades. These projects can last anywhere from a day to a week or two, depending on the repairs necessary. They have completed 54 projects so far with a waiting list of 54 more.

The Fuller Center is preparing to open their new Surplus Store out of their new offices on Linwood Avenue. They are not going to sell appliances, but home fixtures such as windows, doors, and ceiling fans. Their soft opening will be Saturday, October 13 from 10am-2pm, and then the store will run Thursdays-Saturdays, 9am-6pm. Volunteers will soon be needed to help out with the store.

Finally, the Fuller Center is working on having a grocery store in the Allendale community. Currently, the nearest grocery store is 8 miles away, and many people do not have reliable transportation. Their goal is to sell healthy food, including fresh produce, which is scarce in the neighborhood. The building is ready to open, but they are just waiting on finding local suppliers to contribute.

Outreach opportunities and needs:

• Groups/churches can sponsor a new home or lead a rehabilitation project
• Refer families to the ministry at the FullerCenter
• Donated property for construction
• Volunteers to help with builds and projects
• Volunteer supporters who provide food and water at builds
• Donated items such as: compressors/generators, reciprocating saws, paint supplies (brushes, frames, buckets, rollers, drop cloths, caulk, sealants, sprayers, etc.), hammers, tool belts, gloves, small chainsaws (for cutting tree limbs), surplus building materials, drills and drill bits, and bottle water

Time Famine or Time Affluence?

The press has recently reported on a study from researchers at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, Yale University, and Harvard Business School that shows that how you spend your time affects your perception of how busy you are.  Read about it here: Starved for Time? Give Some Away and Giving Time Can Give You Time.

Does this describe you?

Many people these days feel a sense of “time famine”—never having enough minutes and hours to do everything. We all know that our objective amount of time can’t be increased (there are only 24 hours in a day), but a new study suggests that volunteering our limited time—giving it away— may actually increase our sense of unhurried leisure.

The researchers found that across four different experiments, “people’s subjective sense of having time, called ‘time affluence,’ can be increased”.

Spending time on others increased participants feelings of time affluence more that if they were wasting time, gaining a windfall of ‘free’ time or spending time on oneself.

The researchers concluded that “Ultimately, giving time makes people more willing to commit to future engagements despite their busy schedules.”