When I have young children and teenagers in the clinic I do my very best to talk to them and to encourage them regarding their current “roles” in society.  I stress with them that they only have two responsibilities.  The first and most important responsibility is for them follow the commands/directives of the adults (parents, teachers, neighbors etc…) and their second responsibility is to do well in school.  I tell them that if they are able to perfect these two responsibilities, then the chances of them being successful (defined as being a blessing to their community) will increase exponentially.

How does one do that?  Do what your parents have done, but better!

Being a parent is a wonderful calling and it is a blessing.  In my opinion, parenting is the most important job in the world.  As parents, we are able to help shape the next generation of leaders and what we do for our children can/will last a lifetime.  The way we carry ourselves, spend time with our children, encourage our children, love our children and discipline our children in love, goes well beyond the first 18 years of life.  Our children are a reflection of us.  Their behaviors, goals, dreams and aspirations are a result of what has been modeled for them growing up.  While there is no such thing as a perfect home or perfect parent, there are many things that we can do that will give our children a strong foundation to build upon as they prepare to lead the next generation.

flickr photo by jaqjan

When we have our picture taken, what is it that we want that portrait to say?  The same thing can be said regarding our children.  As parents, it is imperative that we do our very best to be successful role models for our children.  This in turn will help them to reflect or portray us.  How do we Give A Care About Kids?  By modeling success – hard work, accountability, responsibility, overcoming failures, never quitting, focusing on the family, stressing the importance of education, and thinking about how to be a blessing to others.

As a pediatrician, I stress these two responsibilities but I understand that this must start with the man/woman in the mirror… Me and You.  We too have a responsibility and that is to paint these beautiful pictures that are the next generation in the form of our children.  They are a reflection of us; a walking and talking image.

What pictures are you painting?

“Our HealthNet” starts with the staff that come in every day prepared to assist our clients with getting their needs met and helping them to become self- sufficient. Debra Marshall comes in daily before our doors even open to make a fresh hot pot of coffee and to put the sign- up sheet out for the clients. She then unlocks the door and welcomes in our clients who come to the Homeless Initative Program (H.I.P.) for a variety of reasons. Other staff members; from Mandy, one of our MA’s that administers shots with caring hands to our smallest clients that are in shelters; to David, our resident professor who’s a part of the employment team; to Stacey, who sees hundreds of new faces in triage; to Donnie, who gains the trust of clients living on the street and in camps; to Gary, who says thank you to our men and women veterans by assisting them through our per diem program; to Jennifer, who has clients bringing in envelopes full of receipts to make sure their staying on budget in case management; to Trina, who makes sure all of the clients medical files are in order; to Sharon, the director of the agency who on a daily basis stays late completing grant reports and crunching numbers to make sure that HIP will be able to open our doors again  tomorrow.

Our HIP team during last year’s National Health Center Week!

“Our HealthNet” continues with the clients that walk through our doors on an everyday basis requesting assistance. HIP has long been a place where clients know they can come in and be treated with dignity and respect no matter whether they live in a shelter, where their door might be to a room that’s shared with three other people, or their own place, where their door might have an eviction notice taped on it, or in a camp, where their door might be made from a recycled card board box. Our doors have seen many faces, happy faces, sad faces, distraught faces, discouraged faces and content faces. Our job is to make sure that no matter what door they are coming from, when they walk through our doors we give them 100% of our time, our talent and our ability to make sure that they will one day walk through their own doors.

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Editor’s note: This month’s theme is “Our HealthNet”!  Our bloggers have taken on this topic and are talking about how it takes a community for us to provide quality health care and support services.  Click here to find out more about our topic this month.

And things just keep getting busier, so here is a quick post to let you all know what to see and look out for during the month of June.  (We are really, really excited and just had to share with someone).

1. Today is WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY!

HealthNet is lucky to have a FANTASTIC Tobacco Cessation Counselor.  Her name is Stacey Chappell, and she makes the rounds from health center to health center each week to help our patients through the tough job of quitting tobacco.  Like many community health centers throughout the nation, our focus is on preventative care.  The more prevention, the lower the cost of health care to the patients, to the system and to you!  Through a partnership with the Marion County Health Department, our Tobacco Cessation program is able to offer free nicotine patches if you are enrolled in the program.  WE ARE CELEBRATING WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY TODAY!

2. In case you missed it… check out the celebration that happened at Barrington last week!

Last week, we held a community celebration for Barrington Health & Dental Center’s Grand Opening.  It was complete with great speakers such as Reverend Ezra Russ, Representative Andre Carson, Douglas Hairston, Stan Strader and IU Health’s President & CEO, Dan Evans.  It was a fantastic event, so be sure to head over to our Facebook page and see the photos.

3. WE HAVE A BLOGGING TEAM!

In order to bring you, the reader, a closer look at what happens here at HealthNet, we recruited staff to blog!  Right here on GIVE A CARE INDY, you will get a first hand look into our Health Promotions Dept, Marketing/Development, Homeless Initiative Program, Behavioral Health Dept, Social Workers, Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families Program, Dental, OB/Midwifery Dept, and weekly health tips from our Assistant Medical Director.

MAKE SURE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG TODAY TO STAY IN THE KNOW!!