REACH U.S. SEA-CEED. Partner Spotlight: East Cooper Community Outreach

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1 REACH U.S. SEA-CEED Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the United States South Eastern African American Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Disparities in diabetes Partner Spotlight: East Cooper Community Outreach Issue 4 December 2010 East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO) mission statement: ECCO is an organization dedicated to helping our neighbors in need and providing emergency disaster relief. ECCO serves residents mainly in the area east of the Cooper River and south of the Santee Basin but also serves the entire tri-county area (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester) through cooperation with other organizations and agencies. ECCO offers a variety of services for the community, one of which is Diabetes Self Management Education (DSME) classes instructed by REACH SEA-CEED Diabetes Educators. In 2010, ECCO provided DSME classes to more than 228 persons with diabetes. In addition, ECCO offers key elements of support to their clients including: Basic needs (food and clothing), financial assistance (utility and rent), dental services and educational opportunities (GED and/ or Getting Ahead programs). The C.O.A.C.H. program, an extension of the Getting Ahead program, offers further support to clients in becoming self sufficient members of their community. ECCO also provides referrals to other community / health agencies. The MUSC CARES Clinic (located next door to ECCO) is a medical student initiated and managed non-profit organization providing free medical care to the underserved, uninsured population in the Tri-County area. The CARES Clinic opened its doors in 2005 and provides free health care on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings on a first come first serve basis. ECCO s prescription assistance program Med I Assist, serves uninsured clients in the Tri-county area. It is designed to assist clients in acquiring their prescription medications for chronic illnesses. The goal is to help promote a positive health care regime and a healthier community. The Med I Assist program assisted 345 clients (of which 72 were persons with diabetes) with prescription medication needs. The medication cost savings through the Patient Assistance Program was approximately $299,257. Project Test Strips is ECCO s independent grant driven outreach program, which benefits participants in DSME classes as well as persons with diabetes in the surrounding communities. This Project assists with providing foot care, diabetes supplies and eye exams to DSME class participants to promote health and decrease disparities in persons with diabetes. The Project also partners with local pharmacies to meet the immediate medication needs for persons with diabetes. Project Test Strips has continued to partner with local optometrists who understand the eye care needs of the person with diabetes and provides services at a greatly reduced cost to both the program and its participants. East Cooper Smiles program, with assistance from our valued partners, MUSC College of Dental Medicine and Trident Technical College of Dental Hygiene, has organized a preventative and restorative clinic. The Smiles program is powered by local dentists and hygienists who volunteer their time on a weekly basis, providing fillings, cleanings and other restorative services. This program is limited to residents in the East Cooper area. Continued on pg 2. In This Issue of Reaching Us P.1 Partner Spot Light P.2 Ms. Linnen in Diabetes Forecast P.3 Save the Dates P.4 Eye On Legacy P Fall Diabetes Symposium

2 2 Diabetes Forecast - December 2010 Issue Florene Linnen (67) Georgetown, S.C. Founder, Georgetown County Diabetes CORE Group It took 16 years and one diabetes education course for Florene Linnen to understand that her type 2 diabetes was serious. I learned in three days more than I had learned the entire time as a diabetic, she says. And then she took that information home. I started in my church, Linnen recalls. There we found about 70- something diabetics. That wasn t enough for me. I started in the community. And then I said: That s not enough. So she founded the Georgetown County Diabetes Community Outreach Resources & Education (CORE) Group, which works with people in this rural area of South Carolina. The biggest hurdle, Linnen says, was communicating the severity of diabetes. She d tell people, I thought, oh, a little sugar nothing to it, she says. I learned it s more than a little sugar. Diabetes affects your entire body. The good news is you can control it. Linnen has spread the word about type 2 at health fairs, workshops, presentations, and banquets. She was instrumental in the opening of a health clinic in her town. She worked with REACH as a Community Health Advisor for several years and continues as a community leader. This summer, her group launched two new initiatives: a community garden and a program to bring Linnen and a doctor into people s homes to banish junk food. Her mission is to teach the entire community about healthy ways of eating and to let them spread the word from there. I say, People, you can do this in your community. You can be the tool that starts it in your community. All you Adapted from Diabetes Forecast December 2010 Issue Charleston Trident Urban League Bus Placards Charleston Trident Urban League Bus Placards were released this month and will run until February/March The displays are on the exterior of 7 Queen buses, 2 express buses and in the interior of all CARTA buses. East Cooper Community Outreach Continued from pg 1. The Charleston County Transportation program aims to eliminate missed health related appointments by issuing free bus passes to individuals without vehicles. This service is provided to low income families who reside in the McClellanville, Awendaw, and Mount Pleasant areas. New services currently being offered at ECCO include: The new Benefits Bank computer data system is in use by the Interviewers at ECCO. The program is currently being used to determine a client s eligibility for other Social Services such, as Food Stamps, Medicaid, WIC, etc. New Money Smart courses are also being offered to help clients with budgeting and managing their money. For more information about ECCO please contact them at or

3 3 Save the Date THE 9 TH ANNUAL DIABETES/HEART DISEASE & STROKE WINTER SYMPOSIUM EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT: Primary Care Systems Change Moving from Guidelines to Action! MARCH 11-12, 2011 SHERATON MYRTLE BEACH CONVENTION CENTER HOTEL Save the Date Volunteers Needed Georgetown County Diabetes CORE Group Kidney Screening The Georgetown county Diabetes CORE Group is partnering with the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP) through the National Kidney Foundation to offer free kidney screenings to residents of Georgetown county free of charge. The Core Group is also looking for volunteers to assist with the event. Location: Choppee Regional Resource Center (old Choppee High School) 8189 Choppee Road, Georgetown, SC Date: Saturday, January 22 Time: 10:00 am 1:00 pm Requirements for Screening: Participant must be 18 or older, have diabetes, or high blood pressure, or kidney disease, or have a parent or sibling with diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, call or , extension 113. Visit the webpage at:

4 4 The REACH US SEA-CEED Program Year 4 Legacy Projects include: 1. Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center 2. Sumter County Active Lifestyle 3. Elizabeth City State University. Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center project is focusing on preventing diabetes and its related complications. Their goal is to end health disparities and improve the quality of life of African Americans as it relates to diabetes by accomplishing the following objectives: Create a coalition of existing partnerships (with FBOs, Housing Corporations, HCP, DHEC, DSC etc.) in the Eau Claire Community of Columbia, zip code whose focus is ending health disparities and complications of diabetes. Secondly, the center will increase the number of residents' participation in diabetes awareness and prevention programs emphasizing the complications of strokes. Eau Claire Cooperative has nine Health Centers that has been offering affordable health care to patients for almost 30 years. Eau Claire Cooperative Health Center has two locations in the zip code; during 2009 they served 5,369 patients, including 950 patients with diabetes. Sumter County Active Lifestyle (SCAL) is currently engaged in a project: Diabetes is No Sweet Thing! which is an awareness and education community-based, social marketing project currently implemented in the rural communities of Rembert and Wedgefield. The project s goals are to expand SCAL s outreach in Sumter County by forming partnerships with African American churches in the Rembert and Wedgefield communities, to address health disparities in diabetes and increase opportunities for African American residents to learn more about diabetes. In addition to this project, SCAL has other health related programs. One specific program was started as a result of a previous grant received from the Eat Smart Move More Coalition, which allowed SCAL to successfully begin neighborhood walking groups which still remain active in the communities. Elizabeth City State University, the Faith Leaders for Healthy Living, is a project whose goals are to collaborate with local church organizations to implement culturally appropriate diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention initiatives and trainings and incorporate healthy lifestyle choice initiatives into church policies. Since 2007, Elizabeth City State University has operated the Health Resource Center (HRC). The mission of the HRC is to improve the health of Elizabeth City residents by providing information and improved access to preventive health care services. The HRC is staffed five days a week by two registered nurses, and offers flexible hours to accommodate diverse work schedules. The center offers routine risk assessment screenings including: blood sugar, blood pressure, hemoglobin A1C, and total cholesterol monitoring. An exercise room with treadmills, bicycles, and elliptical machines is located within the HRC and is available to residents and other clients at all times. The center also provides monthly educational outreach seminars. To date the HRC has served over 2000 clients and will be a great asset to local churches collaborating with this Project. Legacy Projects are funded by REACH US SEA-CEED. New applications for funding are currently available. Please visit

5 Fall Diabetes Symposium Poster Presentations Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Patsy Meyers First Place-Professional Category Partner Poster Presentations Lorna Beck, Syndia Moultrie and Montrese Edwards First Place DSME Category Harlyn Hardin, Tennessee Legacy Partner Georgetown Diabetes CORE Group Team Honorable Mention - Community Projects Category Charleston Diabetes Coalition - Third Place Community Project Category Speakers / Presenters Joyce Page, NC Legacy Partner Both Dr. Carolyn Jenkins and Virginia Thomas Presented at the 2010 Fall Diabetes Symposium