On the Path to Sparking Communal Regeneration

Through working together, a children's hospital, legal aid society and food bank in Cincinnati are creating health in new ways.

The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Primary Care Center partnered with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati several years ago. The success of that venture sparked a partnership with the Freestore Food Bank and now another couple connections are in the works.

Dr. Melissa Klein

Dr. Melissa Klein of the Primary Care Center says the hospital’s long-term goal is to continue to create more community partnerships.

“In Cincinnati we have so many agencies that are doing such wonderful work, but they don’t necessarily have access to the families that we’re seeing.

“If we can serve as a true medical home and be the building bridge to the other agencies, that would be the ideal.”

Through these connections, those involved are showing they recognize the skills and gifts that each organization has to offer in jointly creating a healthy community. This is one step closer to the community as a whole seeing and being confident of their capacities and assets for restoring themselves.

Donita Parrish, senior attorney of the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, is heavily involved in the partnership with the hospital.

She says more than anything this collaborative work has renewed her appreciation of the power of civil legal services to make a positive difference in the lives of people living on low incomes. She is also seeing clearly the power of partnership.

Parrish says she’s been especially proud to see how through working together, the hospital and legal aid society have been able to help families access food stamps and health insurance, just as an example. This has a direct impact on families’ health and well-being, she notes.

John Young

She tells the story of a child receiving appropriate special education services as a result of the partnership.

“The Cincinnati Children’s pediatrician who referred this child with autism was also a passionate advocate for him,” Parrish notes.

“Her expertise and participation as a member of the team creating his education plan contributed to his current success in school. He is now in the first grade and his family is very happy with the progress he is making in school.”

Parrish adds she sees much opportunity in this kind of work.

Pictured above, senior legal attorney Donita Parrish (left) with a family the hospital legal aid society partnership has been able to support.

“We are beginning to realize the potential to combine the resources of Cincinnati Children’s and the Legal Aid Society to address legal problems that are impacting the health of individual patients and others in their communities,” she says.

“In the coming years I see us increasing our impact by continuing to build our capacity to address neighborhood, community and systemic problems through the Child HeLP medical-legal partnership.”

A couple years ago, John Young of the Freestore Food Bank and the children's hospital physicians were looking for each other and didn’t know it.

As CEO of Freestore, Young had just read some disturbing literature on the prevalence of food insecurity for infants in the region, and was sure there must be a way for the food bank to help in addressing that. Dr. Robert Kahn from the hospital had recently completed a disheartening survey of infant patients on food insecurity issues.

Through a mutual connection, the two organizations learned of their common focus, and are now working together to bring food to infants in need. 

Noting that the hospital food bank partnership is the only one he’s aware of in the country, Young says he envisions replicating the model with every pediatric hospital in the U.S., and the impact that could have.

He points out food bank doesn’t just provide food to those in need. It also considers people’s times of food insecurity as a gateway to work with them in other ways, to help them stabilize and build a new future.

— More to Come

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