A simple apology in Gering, Nebraska helped to spark a movement that eventually spread to all seven of the state’s community health centers.
One day someone came into the Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska, which houses both a health center and a community action agency that offers a wide range of social services.
The new patient apologized for “not being clean,” due to lack of money for personal hygiene products. Someone on the staff who happened to have some soap in their car went out and gave it to the patient.
Known locally as the Community Action Health Center, the organization has a wide range of patients. It is designated as a migrant health center, and the local population includes some people who are homeless.
Staff at the center decided to start offering personal hygiene kits to those who needed them. They were able to get funding for the effort from a foundation and logistical support from the Health Center Association of Nebraska. Eventually 2,000 kits went to all the state’s community health centers and several other non-profits.
Staff at the health center tend to be innovative, said CEO Betsy Vidlak. This stems partly from straddling two different service worlds in a rural area. The center serves about 7,000 patients a year and has about 4,000 people a year who come in for social services. Staff members try to prepare for a wide range of needs that may present themselves on any given day.
“We just got creative,” she said.