By Emily Viverette

What happens when three hospital chaplains, one Supporter of Health, one hospital social worker, one hospital volunteer director, and one faith community nurse come together? Abundant learning and powerful networking! For the past 18-months this group of FaithHealth leaders in seven different counties (Robeson, Randolph, Forsyth, Burke, Watauga, McDowell and Gaston) met quarterly to learn and share together the emerging FaithHealth work in their communities.

Funded by a Kate B. Reynolds grant, the FaithHealth Fellows met in six of the seven counties represented and built a powerful learning collaborative. In their final meeting, each presented the story of his or her work which highlighted the unique ways in which each of the Fellows and his/her contexts have shaped the evolution of the FaithHealth movements in their communities.

A wide variety of programs

While one program focused on aligning resources specifically targeted to assist patients with frequent readmissions, another focuses on aligning resources to help the senior population with chronic health conditions. Another works to build trust and partnerships in the Hispanic/Latino community. Yet another is doing the “boots on the ground” of caregiving in vulnerable populations while also building trust in that community.

All have developed creative and innovative partnerships within their communities and across this network of co-learners. Now that this group has graduated, they are considered “Fellows for life.” They will meet again in the fall to begin planning the training for the next cohort of Fellows. The hope is to continue to expand and enrich this collaborative learning community in order to build healthier communities across the state.