Gratitude

Gratitude 

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." - Edward Sandford Martin

Thanksgiving has come and gone! What a wonderful holiday this year! I hope you had a fantastic holiday full of love and laughter! 

Growing up, Thanksgiving was my best friend's favorite holiday (my favorite was and still is Christmas). With each passing year, I come to see what attracted her and enjoy the holiday more and more. I have struggled to find the words to express the depth of my gratitude for the people who have shaped the experiences I have had in 2012. There were so many powerful moments I'd like to re-live, so much love shared, and so many new adventures!

As far as I can tell, understanding the value and weight of gratitude comes with experiences we acquire as we go through life. My challenge for myself this year is to attempt to consciously express gratitude for each day. Here is my first public attempt: 

I am forever grateful for my family and their limitless support and love! Thank you for making me who I am and always believing in my dreams! I am grateful for all of my friends who have shared their love, laughter, and dreams with me. Thank you for the adventures. You inspire me every day! I am grateful for my wonderful boyfriend. Thank you for the fantastic year and a half. I am always looking forward to our future! 

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve a community for a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA Member. I am grateful to the community of Bennington, the members of the Alliance for Community Transformations (ACT), and SVHC co-workers for continual support and daily inspiration to strive for positive, sustainable change. I am grateful for my partner-in-crime at SVHC, Nicole. Thank you for everything! I'm excited to see what we can accomplish by August! I am grateful for my supervisor Kiah. Thank you for always being there to help me achieve my goals and grow! You inspire me to pursue all of my dreams!

One quarter complete...

It is difficult to believe that I have completed a quarter of my year of service already. I am still blown away by the inspiring work that community members I have the privilege of working with are dedicated to doing each day. I continue to learn something new about my vision, goals, and myself each day, and I am looking forward to the next nine months of service.  

"Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet.  Believe in humanity.  Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place.  There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in."  - Phillips Brooks

One Link at a Time

One Link at a Time 

Last time, I left you with a quote about change...Now I'd like to start with this quote as it describes the professional lessons in patience and reminders to celebrate each success: 

"It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time." - Winston Churchill

I'm encountering the future in numerous ways professionally and personally right now. Most days, I wish change in my life could be as fleeting as the Leonid meteor shower that I watched this weekend from Hogback Mountain. Alas, change is the only constant in life... we might as well embrace it!  

Change defines health care right now as you saw in my last post. Nicole and I had the privilege of attending the SVHC Equinox Circle in October where we heard Dr. Gregg Meyer, M.D., Chief Clinical Officer and Executive Vice President of Population Health of Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Meyer focused on the shift from fee-for-service to value based care. He stated that organizations must engage the community and adopt wellness as a focus instead of sickness and treatment in order to be successful. 

At the end of October, Nicole and I also attended a conference sponsored by the Massachusetts Hospital Association and the New England Society for Healthcare Communications: "Influencing Population Health: Making the Case for Wellness & Prevention." The speakers and panelists at the conference echoed what Meyer stated: change is here and it is time to adapt. This MHA conference featured some of the organizations across New England that are leading the shift to adopting a culture of wellness and utilizing social media in clinical care. We saw cases where Facebook has been used to engage consumers in wellness programs effectively, apps being developed that utilize gamification to improve care for teenage transplant patients, and organizations engaging their employees in shaping efforts to build a healthier workforce.  

I am always inspired by the work that community members are doing to make Bennington a healthier place to live. All of the task forces from The Vermont Council on Rural Development, the Alliance for Community Transformations, and all other non-profit, service organizations working to make Bennington a healthier place to live are building capacity, building a better future, and strengthening our community one link at a time. 

Updates

November has been a wild month! It started off with an awesome VISTA Thanksgiving dinner that Nicole and I hosted! (We cooked a three-legged turkey breast instead of a whole bird but it was still delicious!) 

ACT had its second successful meeting on Nov. 15! The focus of the meeting was to further define and brainstorm projects for each of the work groups: Healthy and Active Living, Youth Engagement and Empowerment, Healthy Community Design, Substance Abuse and Tobacco Prevention, and Organizational Leadership and Sustainability. Great American Smokeout efforts on Nov. 15 at the hospital and throughout the county at community partners and schools were successful! Working collaboratively, we garnered many pledges to quit smoking or support smokers in their attempt to quit.  

Finally, we have met with our Youth Ambassadors and they are in the process of completing the SVHC volunteer process! We worked with our six Youth Ambassadors to come up with an exhibit at the Festival of Trees at the Bennington Museum. Festival of Trees is a community created event where holiday trees are decorated by local non-profits, businesses, and organizations. The festival kicks off tomorrow, Saturday Nov. 24 with Family Day and will be available until Dec. 30.

The Alliance for Community Transformations (ACT) Youth Ambassador Program vignette is titled "Celebrating the Culture of Bennington from the Youth's Perspective." We asked the Youth Ambassadors what they felt represented the culture of Bennington, and what should be celebrated about Bennington. Their responses were depicted in words and pictures, and historical photographs of Bennington from the Museum's collection were added to create the final exhibit. 

In addition, it's been over three months and I still have not seen a moose! I'm not going to lose hope for a sighting in the next three quarters of my year of service!

This is the view from Hogback Mountain! You can see for 100 miles from the overlook into Massachusetts and New Hampshire