Event Scheduled for Sunday, September 21

On Sunday, September 21 FIR will be sponsoring PRO-ACT and Recovery Walks! The 3-mile walk is a fundraising event to support those members of our community who struggle with alcohol and other addictions. Recovery Walks! is the largest walk of its kind in the region.

• 7^th Annual Recovery Walks!
• Sunday, September 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Registration begins at 10am. Walk begins at 12pm.

Memorial Hall in Philadelphia
West Fairmount Park at 4231 N. Concourse Drive

In addition to the walk will be other special events, such as children's activities hosted by Please Touch Museum and a free BBQ after the walk, for all registered participants! To register as an individual walker or to register a team and to sponsor or donate, please visit www.proact.org.

For any questions about FIR or Recovery Walks!
Please contact Amy Augustine at 215-985-6239 or amy@phmc.org or Yvette Rouse at 215-731-2166 or yvette@phmc.org

On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, H.E.L.P. Philadelphia welcomes students from Bryn Athyn College for "Reach-Out Day." The extensive community outreach project will begin at 10 a.m. when Bryn Athyn students and parents arrive at the H.E.L.P site, located in West Philadelphia. The day's activities will include landscaping, painting, visiting with residents, and taking the program's children on a field trip to the Please Touch Museum.

H.E.L.P Philadelphia is a transitional living facility for families previously in shelters. The program provides families with critical on-site support services to help them move from homelessness to permanent housing and self-sufficiency. Families can live at H.E.L.P for up to two years while developing their vocational, daily living, parenting and money management skills.

Bryn Athyn's C.A.R.E. is a student led service organization where students gain leadership experience through designing, organizing and facilitating service projects. CARE volunteers work with H.E.L.P Philadelphia throughout the school year on numerous activities and events for H.E.L.P Philadelphia children.

For more information about this event, PHMC or H.E.L.P Philadelphia, or to volunteer, please contact Jamie Arehart at 267-350-7699.

About H.E.L.P Philadelphia

A partnership between the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) and H.E.L.P USA, the largest provider of transitional housing in New York City, H.E.L.P Philadelphia is devoted to building self-sufficiency among homeless and low-income families through the acquisition and/or enhancement of key skills necessary for independent living, such as personal self-esteem, parenting, employment, education, and health care. H.E.L.P Philadelphia's facilities include fifty transitional apartments for homeless families and the Genesis Square Townhouses, a forty-unit low-income housing complex, as well as on-site daycare and a playground.

Event to be Held on October 5
in Fairmount Park

Linda Creed's Paws for the Cause event has grown extraordinarily over the years - last year's event attracted over 600 people and 300 dogs! Because of its popularity, the event will now feature a Horse Trot along with their traditional Doggie Walk. Please join Linda Creed in the fight against breast cancer:

• Paws for the Cause Doggie Walk & Horse Trot
• Sunday, October 5, 2008
• Trot Begins at 8 a.m. - Dog Registration at 10:30 a.m., Walk at 11:30 a.m.
• Fairmount Park - Chamounix Drive

Linda Creed is committed to promoting breast health, fostering the healing process and establishing a public agenda for prevention and cure. Linda Creed provides direct service for free mammography screenings and diagnostic tests for uninsured and underinsured women, critical financial assistance to women receiving breast cancer treatment, and advocacy. Linda Creed is an affiliate of the PHMC.

To register, sponsor, or view more information, please visit www.lindacreedpaws.org or contact Fran Orodeckis at 215-564-3700 or email her at franorodeckis@lindacreed.org.

Training at PHMC is excited to launch its new Training Calendar.
Visit the updated training calendar here.

Hard copies of the training brochure arriving soon!
For more information, please contact Training at training@phmc.org or 215.731.2115.

Join us in celebration as the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation becomes...
Public Health Management Corporation.

When: 11.18.08
Where: Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets, or to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

Download the Sponsorship Packet (1.08 mb).
This packet includes:

• Sponsorship Levels
• Ticket Options & Pre-Event Information
  
• Sponsorship Form
• Ad Specs & Submission Guidelines
  

Baker Creative & Healthcare Leadership Network Volunteer

On Saturday, July 12, a large group of volunteers from all over the community donated their time and expertise to help beautify the Rising Sun Health Center in Philadelphia. From 8:30 a.m. to Noon, volunteers from the Health Center, and Health Leadership Network of the Delaware Valley (HLNDV), took direction from Brad Baker, Certified Pennsylvania Horticulturist and president of the landscape design firm Baker Creative, in re-designing and planting the health center's landscape.

The large community project began when the HLNDV contacted Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) to volunteer some of their members. The Leadership network often provides volunteers for community projects. HLNDV member and volunteer organizer David Balinksi explains, "Typical projects include non-skilled manual labor such as painting, moving, planting, and any other creative projects to benefit the community."

Elaine Fox, Vice President of Specialized Health Services at PHMC, jumped at the chance to get some help in cleaning up the Rising Sun Health Center. "We were thrilled at the chance to have some help in cleaning up the health center's landscape. We needed new plants - new everything," Fox said. "This was a long-awaited dream."

After the HLNDV volunteers were secured, Brad Baker of Baker Creative was asked to manage and oversee the project. Baker is known for his passion in using horticulture to benefit the community. "From my perspective, it is essential to get people - especially kids - back in touch with nature." Baker visited Rising Sun Health Center earlier this month, prepared blueprints, and secured the materials for the community event. HLNDV volunteers then got to work, planting new flowers and bushes around the facility.

The Rising Sun Health Center provides quality comprehensive health services to people underserved by traditional health care providers. In addition, many of the patients there are newly arrived immigrants from Asia, Africa and South America. "Although the interior of the center is beautiful, the outside required a great deal of improvement," Fox explains.

The Rising Sun Health Center provides high-quality, affordable health care to patients of all ages including primary care, prenatal services, immunizations and flu shots, management of chronic conditions, and family planning. The Health Center is located on the corner of Adams Avenue and Rising Sun Avenue in North Philadelphia. For more information on the health center, please visit our Rising Sun Health Center web page or call 215-279-9666. Spanish-speaking staff is available.

On Friday, June 13, 2008, the City of Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Communications issued the following news release:

MAYOR NUTTER, DEPUTY MAYOR SCHWARZ ANNOUNCE NEW INTERMEDIARY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Philadelphia, June 13, 2008 - Today, Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Deputy Mayor Don Schwarz announced Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC) as the new Out-of-School-Time fiscal and management intermediary. PHMC was selected through the open and transparent e-Contract process. The process for RFPing the intermediary contract was completed ahead of schedule and will cost the City less money than Safe and Sound, the former contract holder. PHMC will begin providing services July 1, taking over operation of all summer programs currently operated by the previous contract provider.

"PHMC is an experienced provider and the transition of summer programs will be smooth," said Mayor Nutter. "Dr. Schwarz and his team did an incredible job of RFPing the contract in a timely and transparent manner. The end result is a contract that will provide excellent services at a lower cost."

The City formally issued the RFP in April and six organizations submitted letters of intent to submit a proposal, including five social service agencies, and a university. A seventeen-member RFP evaluation committee consisting of representatives from City agencies, the School District, the PA Department of Public Welfare, a foundation, several not-for-profits with experience as intermediaries or as child advocates and persons with expertise in Out-of-School-Time and other programming for children and youth was formed to evaluate the applicants and hear presentations from the two final applicants.

The Chosen Respondent, PHMC, was ranked more highly on:

• Experience as a financial intermediary and fiscal and program monitor, which are core functions
• Experience with out-of-school-time programming - PHMC was a Safe and Sound sub-contractor from approximately 2002-2007
• Efficiency of Staffing Model - 21% fewer full-time equivalents than the other finalist
• Cost - 6% less expensive than the other finalist: ($2.8 million vs. $3.0 million)

Congratulations to all PHMC staff who worked so hard to make this happen!