Neighborhood News. Apr-May-Jun And the award goes to Mercy Neighborhood Ministry!

Transcription

1 Neighborhood News Apr-May-Jun 2014 Mercy Neighborhood Ministry 3660 Gravois St. Louis, MO Our Staff Inside This Issue: Our Mission Sharon Neumeister, RN Director Terri Miller Outreach Coordinator Cheryl Schorr Outreach Coordinator Dennis Turek Administrative Assistant Danielle Cherry Vincentian Mission Corp Volunteer Sr. Marilynn Wittenauer, RSM Volunteer MNM Receives Award Changes at the Office CWIT Honors Mercy Mercy Day at Busch Who Needs Medicaid in MO? ACA Update Mercy Medicare Insurance Free Dental Care And MORE Mercy Neighborhood Ministry, a department of Mercy Hospital St. Louis, connects the economically underserved with appropriate health and social service resources. In partnership with community organizations, we improve access to care and quality of life for those in need. And the award goes to Mercy Neighborhood Ministry! Mercy Neighborhood Ministry (MNM) recently received the Joined in Ministry award presented by Rev. Brenda Booth, Executive Director of Isaiah 58 Ministries, on April 22. Sharon Neumeister, MNM Director, and Cheryl Schorr, MNM Outreach Coordinator, accepted the plaque at Isaiah s annual meeting and awards dinner. This award is given to an organization who has shared their time and resources in an impactful way to Isaiah 58 and their clients throughout the year. Isaiah 58 Ministries is a cooperative ministry on the near south side of St. Louis who, since 1970, has been helping neighbors as a food pantry, thrift store, and so much more!! MNM has been a friend of Isaiah 58 s for over 10 years and has helped connect Mercy services to their clients in several ways, such as: The mammography van s annual visit to their Women s Health Day Providing flu vaccine for their seasonal onsite clinic Mercy Family Medicine Residents providing blood pressure screenings and Ask the Doctor sessions Partnering with them plus two other church food pantries to organize a 6-week class for their clients called, SELF (Strengthening, Empowering and Lifting Families) Training for quality referrals and use of resource lists 1

2 Mercy Neighborhood Ministry is honored to have received this award. Left to right: Sharon Neumeister, Rev. Brenda Booth and Cheryl Schorr Changes at the Neighborhood Ministry TERRI MILLER Terri is an Outreach Coordinator for the Neighborhood Ministry and has been with us for 7 years. Many of you know her through her work with the Emergency Fund Network, Mercy Community Benefit reporting, and community health projects. We have shared in her joy through her marriage to Joe and the birth of their first daughter, Hannah. Now we await the arrival of Baby Miller #2 due to make his/her debut late August. We are so excited for Terri, Joe and little Hannah, but with this change comes another. Terri will soon be taking a part-time position in the lab at Mercy Hospital St. Louis and will only be with us part-time until August. This will allow her more time to enjoy her growing family. Please join us in wishing Terri and her family all the best and thanking her for all she has done to assist not only us, but those experiencing a crisis in our community. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEW ADVENTURES, TERRI!! We will miss you!! CHERYL SCHORR Cheryl, on the other hand, is also an Outreach Coordinator with the Neighborhood Ministry and will celebrate her 20 year anniversary with Mercy this coming June. She began as an Administrative Assistant in the EMG/Nerve Conduction Lab at Mercy Hospital St. Louis, transferred to Rehab to assist a physiatrist, and then transferred to the Neighborhood Ministry in We asked Cheryl what she liked most about her job. I like that no two days are ever the same at our office. Assisting community agencies or Mercy coworkers with problem-solving issues affecting the underserved gets me out of bed each morning. CONGRATULATIONS, CHERYL! 2

3 DANIELLE CHERRY It s time once again to say so long to our Vincentian Mission Corps volunteer who has helped us more than words can say these past 10 months. Danielle Cherry s last day at our office will be June 24. Many of you know her from her work with taking Mercy Family Medicine residents out in the community, assisting Dr. David Campbell at his Institute of Family Medicine Clinic in Hancock High School, and from the informative s sent to members of our e-distribution list. Danielle is actively seeking employment that will allow her to utilize her skills and training she received in Dietetics, Nutrition, Fitness and Health. Thank you, Danielle, for all your hard work and best of luck as you enter the workforce!! CWIT Honors Mercy At Center for Women in Transition s (CWIT) 2014 Beautiful Transformations event, May 30, Mercy will be recognized for its longtime community support to this organization. The cherry on top is Sr. Claudia Ward, RSM, a Sister of Mercy and a Mercy coworker in Human Resources, will be the emcee for the night! Mercy has been a primary partner with the Center for Women in Transition (CWIT) since its inception in Many St. Louis area Sisters of Mercy and Mercy coworkers have sat on their board, worked side-by-side on homeless issues and worked together on special projects, such as holiday assistance. Thank you, CWIT, for this recognition as well as the great work you do transitioning incarcerated women back into society!!! If you would like to learn more about CWIT or attend Beautiful Transformations, call CWIT at or visit their website, Mercy Day at Busch Stadium Watch for 7,000 Mercy coworkers, friends and family at the ballpark this Father s Day, June 15! They ll be sporting these cool Cardinals hats with the Mercy logo on the back! Coworkers from all three Mercy Hospitals, St. Louis, Washington and Jefferson will be there. (Don t worry! There will be plenty of care providers still working at the hospitals to care for your loved ones!) Mercy is the official medical provider of the St. Louis Cardinals. 3

4 Welcome Home, Beverly! Beverly Miller is a graduate of Cuba High School and has returned to the area as a family medicine nurse practitioner at Mercy Clinic Family Medicine in Cuba. She earned a bachelor s degree in nursing from Maryville University St. Louis and a master s degree from the University of Missouri- St. Louis Barnes College of Nursing in St. Louis. As a nurse practitioner, Beverly can diagnose and treat common illnesses, prescribe medications, and provide health education for chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. You can make an appointment at Mercy Clinic Family Medicine, located at 301 Theresa St., Cuba, MO, by calling Medicaid Expansion in Missouri According to Families USA, 60% of the Missourians who would be eligible for health insurance if Medicaid was expanded are employed, primarily in low-wage jobs that do not offer coverage. Of the other 40%, 20% are out of the workforce (non-working spouse, disabled, student, etc.) and the other 20% are unemployed. Missouri legislature continues to oppose Medicaid expansion. With only a couple weeks left until the legislature s adjournment in mid-may, learn more about the efforts to expand Medicaid in Missouri and how you can help at Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has agreed to pay the full tab for Medicaid for the first three years if states cover people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or $32,500 for a family of four. States would pick up a share, ranging up to 10 percent, after that. Virginia Young, Post-Dispatch Affordable Care Act Update The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Open Enrollment period ended March 31 and will reopen November 15, During this time, those affected by the following circumstances may still enroll for health insurance: A qualifying life event (marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, moved to another state) A significant change in income Been released from prison with no other insurance option Are victims of domestic violence To see if you qualify to enroll now, visit 4

5 If you have recently enrolled and have questions about how best to use your health insurance, you may contact a Certified Application Counselor (CAC). To contact a Mercy CAC, call (tollfree) or the Federal ACA Call Center at (toll-free). You can also find educational materials on the basics of health insurance and understanding tax credits that may help you pay for your coverage by visiting: Craig Piagari, Mercy CAC, is available by calling ACA Success Nationwide statistics according to STLTODAY, April 21, 2014: 8 million people have now signed up for private insurance on either the federal or state health insurance exchanges. This surpasses initial goals and creates a large enough marketplace to help cement Obamacare as a lasting change in health care policy. 35 percent of those signups are people under the age of 35, which makes the economics of the Affordable Care Act work even better. 3 million more people signed up for Medicaid programs because of new ACA incentives in states that have expanded their Medicaid programs. Medicaid provides free or subsidized health care to the poor, most of them working people, who live on significantly less than a living wage. The State of Missouri has not expanded Medicaid. ****** Visit to see an interactive map of the U.S. showing what states have and have not expanded Medicaid. By hovering over each state, users can read how much federal tax revenue paid by Missourians is going to states that have expanded. NEXT ACA OPEN ENROLLMENT: NOVEMBER 15, 2014 THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2015 Mercy Medicare Insurance Mercy patients who are eligible or soon to be eligible for Medicare have a new source of answers and assistance: MedicareCompareUSA. This is an independent insurance agency that specializes in Medicare health coverage. It can help patients: Identify the Medicare plans accepted by their health care providers. Understand the differences between Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage plans. Find a Medicare prescription plan that covers their medications at the lowest cost. Compare Medicare plans in an unbiased manner and enroll in a selected plan. 5

6 MedicareCompareUSA agents can be reached toll-free at , Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. CST. You can also visit them online at and request a callback at your convenience. The Medicare Insurance Helpline is totally free to patients of Mercy. Asthma and Allergies May is Asthma and Allergy Awareness month. Recently, St. Louis came in at No. 20 on the Asthma and Allergy Foundation s recent list of the 100 most challenging cities to live in with allergies. Asthma is a disease that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing. It can limit a person s qualify of life. In 2011, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that the asthma rates are rising, in part, because of the increasing pollen counts each year. The number of people diagnosed with asthma grew by 4.3 million from 2001 to 2009, with the largest percent diagnosed being African American children at almost a 50% increase. While there is no cure for asthma, most people can control their symptoms and prevent asthma attacks by avoiding triggers and using inhalers and medicines as prescribed. They should also see their physician on a regular basis. Education on symptoms and causes is the key to coping with asthma. Affordable Orthodontic Care If you have a child years of age in need of braces, Smiles Change Lives may be for you! Smiles Change Lives is a nationwide program that can provide orthodontic care to families at or below 200% of Federal Poverty Level at a cost of only $600 to the family plus a $30 application fee. While this is no drop in the bucket, it is much more affordable than the thousands of dollars you would pay if you do not have orthodontic coverage as part of your health insurance. To learn more, visit their website: Test Your Knowledge Everyone knows that when there s an emergency we can dial to reach emergency responders. At a recent United Way training session, we were asked if we knew what the following numbers connected you to when dialed. How well will you do? Answers are below Emergency Assistance 6

7 7

8 Community Council Turns 60! The Community Council of St. Charles County is celebrating its 60 th year of service and collaboration this year and they invited their community neighbors and partners to join in the fun. The event was held Apr. 26 at the Art Institute of St. Streets of St. Charles with food, drinks and entertainment set up in various studios throughout the building. A fun event was a cake decorating contest held in the culinary kitchen in which six celebrity teams of two had twenty minutes to decorate a plain iced layer cake. They were given icing packs, colorful sprinkles, gummy worms, and more to use as creatively as they could. Below are pictures of some cakes in progress. Mercy was represented at the gala by Don Kalicak, Mercy Tri-County (St. Charles, Warren & Lincoln), and by Cheryl Schorr, Mercy Neighborhood Ministry. Congratulations, Community Council! Here s to another 60 years!! Photo: Mary Hutchison, Community Council Executive Director, left, turns the floor over to David Hofman, Art Institute Campus Director, for a brief welcome and background of the institute. Relay for Life Relay for Life is a fundraising event that helps support the American Cancer Society as they work to find new and better ways to fight cancer. If you ve never heard of it, here are the basics: Organized, overnight community fundraising walk Teams of people camp out around a track Members of each team take turns walking around the track Food, games and activities provide entertainment and build camaraderie Family-friendly environment for the entire community 8

9 It means a lot to the survivors and caregivers to see the community unite for the cause. Many will dedicate one of the luminaries that line the track to a loved one. Since it s a team event individual participants are not required to be there the entire time. But why leave when you re having fun? To find an event in your area, visit and search your city or join one of the relays listed below. Where: Immaculate Conception 2300 Church Rd. Arnold, MO Washington High School Track 600 Blue Jay Dr. Washington, MO Pacific High School 425 Indian Warpath Dr. Pacific, MO When: Fri, Jun 6 6:00 p.m. Fri, Jun 13 6:00 p.m. Fri, Jun 20 6:00 p.m. Race for a Cure Walk for a Pink Warrior From the Susan G. Komen website: The Komen Race for the Cure Series is the largest series of 5K runs/fitness walks in the world. The Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure is the largest in the country. The Race raises funds for the local fight against breast cancer, celebrates breast cancer survivors, and honors those who have lost their battle with the disease. For more information about how you can participate, join a team or donate, visit the Komen website, JOIN US ON THE MERCY TEAM! Where: Downtown St. Louis Around 14 th & Market Streets When: Sat, Jun 14 6:30 am Race Day Registration Opens 6:30 am Survivor Pavilion Opens 6:30 am Team Photos Begin 7:25 am Survivor Procession 7:55 am Aerobic Warm Up 8:25 am Wheelchairs Start 8:30 am Team Photos End 8:30 am 5K Timed Runners Start 8:45 am 5K Non-Timed and 1-Mile Runners/Walkers Start 9:45 am Awards Ceremony (on the Main Stage) 9

10 Metro St. Louis Heart Walk Heart disease touches virtually everyone. Come out and join Mercy in supporting the American Heart Association Metro St. Louis Heart Walk at Busch Stadium. It is a free event. Participants are encouraged to collect donations. Look up your company to see how well the donations are coming in, or sign up to walk with a team at: Where: Busch Stadium 700 Clark St. St. Louis, MO When: Sat, May 10 7:30 a.m. Opens 9:30 a.m. Walk begins 11:30 a.m. Ends Franklin County CASA Director is TOPS!!! Glenda Volmert is the Executive Director for Franklin County CASA and was named the 2013 Program Director of the Year in Missouri. Glenda received her award in April at the CASA Show Me Gala in Columbia. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) is a network of community-based programs that recruit, train and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. These volunteers follow the children through the foster care system guaranteeing their rights and needs are being met. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, call CASA at , or learn more on their website: Payday Loans The term is everywhere -- TV commercials, signs at busy city intersections and strip malls, and leading news stories! Payday loans are a hot political issue and a way of life for some. The St. Louis Business Journal recently reported that 11% of Missouri residents use payday loan. That s higher than all but two other states!! The average interest rate in Missouri is 455%. The average loan was $306 with fees of $53 for a 14-day loan. If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands? Milton Berle 10

11 Special Dates Mother s Day, Sunday, May 11 Memorial Day, observed Monday, May 26 Father s Day, Sunday, June 15 Community Resources Visit Mercy Neighborhood Ministry s website for a collection of resources available to those in need. Answers to Quiz United Way Social Service Information Line Municipal Info offered in large cities not currently in St. Louis Directory Assistance Traffic Information no longer available in St. Louis area Used by cell phone users to obtain info from their provider Deaf Relay Know What s Below Call Before You Dig Emergency Assistance Have a Happy Fourth of July! Be safe!! Comments & Feedback Your comments are always welcomed. You may send them to Cheryl Schorr at cheryl.schorr@mercy.net or Dennis Turek at dennis.turek@mercy.net. 11