PACS in 2013
PLEASE BE WARNED! This is a super-duper-early-inside-peek at what we're eying for next year----some of these things are still ideas, not official plans yet. Not all of them are likely to come true.
Oh, and this is also dependent on the Mayan Apocalypse failing to come true ;)
OK, seriously, here are the possibilities for 2013:
Ramp up use of the PACS COW Mobile Food Pantry
This is probably the closest thing to a sure-thing plan of the ones mentioned here, as it's already underway.
The PACS COW was launched in 2011. It is a walk-through food pantry on wheels that brings the client-choice food system to neighborhoods that don't have adequate resources.
Despite last year's launch, the COW has not been as active as we had hoped, due to the struggle to find partner host sites and volunteers during a very busy year with our other services.
Dianne Glovatsky, our clinic manager, has taken the PACS COW on as a side-project, and is actively forming partnerships with churches and other organizations to help get the COW established as a more active program. Dianne's leadership skills have been very effective in the PACS Health Clinic, which continues to improve capacity and quality of service, and those skills are already paying dividends with the PACS COW, which has made several visits into the community over the past few months, thanks to recently established partnerships with CitySanctuary, the Stone Tower Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Lents Seventh-day Adventist Church to provide hosting sites and additional volunteer help.
Volunteer Ray Ammon has also come on board to drive and help supervise volunteers when the van makes a run.
The goal is to get the activity level of the PACS COW up to a least one community visit per week in 2013.
Establish a dental clinic
This has been an idea, and nothing more, for years. However, the recent reception of a sizable anonymous gift towards this concept, is moving it quickly from idea to plan. We are still very early in the planning, so cannot say how quickly it will get off the ground or exactly what it will look like.
What we do know there is a great need for dental services among low-income, uninsured individuals. Our clinic gets numerous phone calls from people needing dental help, and many of the places we can refer them to only do extractions.
This could launch in 2013, or we may need 2013 to be a year of planning and fundraising for the project to ensure it has enough resources to get off the ground and be sustainable. But at the very least, we'll be sharing more specific plans around this project in 2013.
Visual improvements to our facilities
The paint job is OLD. Letters are fallling off the outside of our building. Our sign is rusty and not particularly eye-catching, meaning we are not taking full advantage of the chance to be noticed (or noticed in a good way, at least) in spite of our highly-visible location on a very busy street in outer NE Portland.
Sooner than later, we will be seeking to paint the building, fix the lettering, and post a more professional and eye-catching street-side sign.
Ramping up the use of digital media
We will continue to send out our newsletter by mail, but now that we've established a blog, a Facebook page and an email newsletter, we will continue efforts to increase the use of those resources so you can have more, better, and faster information about what's going on at PACS. We encourage your feedback to share your thoughts and tell us how we're doing.
We welcome your thoughts on these plans and ideas. Which items do you find the most interesting and/or important? Why?
Oh, and this is also dependent on the Mayan Apocalypse failing to come true ;)
OK, seriously, here are the possibilities for 2013:
Ramp up use of the PACS COW Mobile Food Pantry
This is probably the closest thing to a sure-thing plan of the ones mentioned here, as it's already underway.
The PACS COW was launched in 2011. It is a walk-through food pantry on wheels that brings the client-choice food system to neighborhoods that don't have adequate resources.
Despite last year's launch, the COW has not been as active as we had hoped, due to the struggle to find partner host sites and volunteers during a very busy year with our other services.
Dianne Glovatsky, our clinic manager, has taken the PACS COW on as a side-project, and is actively forming partnerships with churches and other organizations to help get the COW established as a more active program. Dianne's leadership skills have been very effective in the PACS Health Clinic, which continues to improve capacity and quality of service, and those skills are already paying dividends with the PACS COW, which has made several visits into the community over the past few months, thanks to recently established partnerships with CitySanctuary, the Stone Tower Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Lents Seventh-day Adventist Church to provide hosting sites and additional volunteer help.
Volunteer Ray Ammon has also come on board to drive and help supervise volunteers when the van makes a run.
The goal is to get the activity level of the PACS COW up to a least one community visit per week in 2013.
Establish a dental clinic
This has been an idea, and nothing more, for years. However, the recent reception of a sizable anonymous gift towards this concept, is moving it quickly from idea to plan. We are still very early in the planning, so cannot say how quickly it will get off the ground or exactly what it will look like.
What we do know there is a great need for dental services among low-income, uninsured individuals. Our clinic gets numerous phone calls from people needing dental help, and many of the places we can refer them to only do extractions.
This could launch in 2013, or we may need 2013 to be a year of planning and fundraising for the project to ensure it has enough resources to get off the ground and be sustainable. But at the very least, we'll be sharing more specific plans around this project in 2013.
Visual improvements to our facilities
The paint job is OLD. Letters are fallling off the outside of our building. Our sign is rusty and not particularly eye-catching, meaning we are not taking full advantage of the chance to be noticed (or noticed in a good way, at least) in spite of our highly-visible location on a very busy street in outer NE Portland.
Sooner than later, we will be seeking to paint the building, fix the lettering, and post a more professional and eye-catching street-side sign.
Ramping up the use of digital media
We will continue to send out our newsletter by mail, but now that we've established a blog, a Facebook page and an email newsletter, we will continue efforts to increase the use of those resources so you can have more, better, and faster information about what's going on at PACS. We encourage your feedback to share your thoughts and tell us how we're doing.
We welcome your thoughts on these plans and ideas. Which items do you find the most interesting and/or important? Why?
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