University Health’s partnership with LINC Caring Communities and the Morning Star Youth and Family Life Center has been a refreshing experience in making hard things simple, said University Health Community Relations Officer Candice Brooks.
It starts with a phone call, she said.
“And we make it happen.”
Whether it was delivering Covid and flu vaccinations to vulnerable communities or increasing the reach of its programs in healthy foods, medical screenings and other services, University Health’s mission gained new strength with LINC, Brooks said.
That’s why University Health chose LINC as its honoree for its first Community Partner of the Year Award.
“We truly appreciate how you make it easy for us to work with you for the betterment of the community we serve,” Brooks said. “We know our community is going to prosper and have better outcomes.”
The feeling, of course, was mutual.
LINC Caring Communities have benefited greatly from University Health’s mission in Kansas City, said LINC Caring Communities Director Trent DeVreugd.
“We thank University Health for helping us build stronger families together,” DeVreugd said.
He reflected on some of UH’s work, including providing health care for uninsured and under-insured people in the community, being proactive in helping people live healthier lives, providing fresh vegetables at community events, as well as its work against violence, noting that the safety of a community, DeVreugd said, “is a determinant of health.”
Janet Rhone, UH’s Director of Community Health Strategies, remembered the first conversations she had with Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church Pastor John Modest Miles and LINC President and CEO Janet Miles-Bartee during the days of the Covid pandemic about working together at the Morning Star Youth and Family Life Center at 27th Street and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City.
“I remember coming here and sitting down and just talking about the possibilities,” Rhone said. “You’re right here in the midst of it,” she said of the heart-of-the-city location, “and you don’t just talk about community. You live it.”
“Thank you so much for being our partner,” she said. “Thank you for what you do every day.”
