Whatcha Got Cookin'?

*Foodlink Fresh Account Program Launch wiith His Branches patients*

Healthy living often starts in the kitchen, but unfortunately, there is a paucity of fresh food options in the neighborhoods we serve, like the 19th Ward. In order to address this disparity, we are excited to partner with Foodlink to share a new pilot program, funded by FLPPS, called Fresh Account with our patients.

Fresh Account is a program designed to make healthy eating both convenient and affordable. Our team of case managers worked to identify 25 patients eligible for the program due to a high risk, or current diagnosis, of Type 2 Diabetes. Each of these patients will receive a $35 monthly credit to be used at any one of Foodlink’s 60 Curbside Market locations where they can purchase fresh and affordable food.

Each participant was also provided with a brand new cooking kit, including: pots, pans, baking sheets, cutting board, vegetable chopper, citrus juicer mixing bowls and several other basic kitchen tools ensuring every participant has the tools and resources necessary to have the confidence to create healthy meals cooked at home.

Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive

More than 350,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year. That’s nearly 1,000 people every day, and only 1 in 10 will survive, according to the Heart Association. Their chance of survival doubles when someone quickly provides CPR. Unfortunately, it happens less than half of the time. Bystanders – family, friends or strangers – often don’t know how to perform CPR or don’t feel confident in their abilities.

His Branches Community Health Center is proud to host the HeartSaver Hub mobile CPR kiosk to empower Rochester residents to gain life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills. The training station is located in the lobby of our 19th Ward health center for patients and visitors through November 29, 2024. UR Medicine introduced the portable, hands-only CPR kiosk, developed by the American Heart Association, to the Finger Lakes region last year to help improve bystander CPR response rates and save more lives.

The mobile CPR station provides interactive training, followed by a practice session, and a 30-second test. A built-in rubber torso ensures proper hand placement, compression rate, and depth, with real-time feedback to improve technique. We’re excited to help create confidence in our neighbor’s ability to act should a life-saving event happen to take place in their home or in our neighborhood.

Light the Way on ROC the Day

Our year end campaign, Light the Way, kicks off on December 3rd with ROC the Day! Our goal is to meet the needs of our patients by expanding our services and personnel for mental health counseling, allowing us to serve and support an additional 500 patients, including pediatric patients and their families, patients struggling with substance abuse, and patients reentering our community after incarceration.

Please consider how much you may be able to contribute to this essential service as a Giving Tuesday and/or End of Year Donation. Keep an eye on your mailbox for more details soon! If you’d like to send us your mailing address to receive more info, send a request to Melissa at mvanheukelum@hisbranches.org and we’d be happy to include you.

Interested in helping motivate others to give? Last year we had a number of matches that helped us raise $11,423. If you’d like to make a commitment prior to the campaign to be a matching donor for our Light the Way campaign, please reach out to Mike (mweston@hisbranches.org) before Dec 3rd! We’re excited to create next steps for hope as we partner with you and others to bring light to those in need.

Tune In!

Tuesday, December 3rd
ROC the Day - Light the Way Campaign

An evening in January, Details TBD
Book Club & Conversation with Justin Murphy
(for Roots Collective members)

Thursday, February 6th evening
Three Heads Fundraiser Night Returns!

Monday, September 15th @Ravenwood
Fore Rochester Golf Tournament 2025

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

We love giving our team opportunities to strengthen our relationships with each other and with our community of partners by both learning and having fun together. We’ve had several recent enrichment events allowing our staff to grow and celebrate with some of these partners.

*Dr. Myra Henry, CEO of YWCA, and Nicole Lynn*

In October, a few staff members attended the YWCA’s Game Changers Luncheon where renowned sports agent and author, Nicole Lynn, spoke about her journey from childhood poverty as the first Black female agent to represent a top three NFL draft pick. Nicole worked her way from childhood poverty to become a Wall Street financial analyst, then attorney, and now top agent to elite athletes and entertainers, a historically male-dominated field. It was an inspiring time to empower our staff while connecting with each other and many overlapping partners in celebration of the good work being done at the YWCA.

We also sent a group to represent His Branches at the World Relief Good Neighbor Gala to celebrate their work with immigrant refugees and hear author, Karen González, a Guatemalan immigrant, share her own experiences with a Biblical lens to examine why “the traditional approach to immigration ministries and activism is at best incomplete and at worst harmful.” By advocating for putting immigrants in the center of the conversation, González helps listeners grow in discipleship and recognize themselves in their immigrant neighbors.

This book and event were empowering tools for our team as we continue to pursue quality care of refugee families in our community.

Rooting for Us

A special thanks to our newest members of The Roots Collective:

Constellation Brands
Integritas
Stuart J. Mitchell III

If you’d like to give a financial gift, learn more about how to join The Roots Collective, or find out how donor dollars are utilized toward our mission, visit our website today!

If you’re currently a Roots Collective member, or join by the end of the year, keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation to an upcoming, exclusive event opportunity with a special guest for you in January 2025!

Give a Gift, Make an Impact!