LCHD roll out first look at Thrive Initiative

Paul Chapman, Executive Director of Restore Hope based in Little Rock, Ark., speaks with about 50 guests at the Meller Family Health Center Wednesday afternoon as part of a Thrive Iowa Initiative being launched in Lee County to help struggling families.

Photo by Chuck Vandenberg/PCC

COUNTY NEED

This community was selected because of high levels of need, but also because of its readiness.”

Page Humphrey, State Director Thrive Iowa

FORT MADISON – An effort that is just getting galvanized in Lee County could strike right at the heart of the impacts of the county’s historical generational poverty.
The Thrive Iowa Initiative rolled out a preliminary introduction to stakeholders and media Wednesday afternoon at the Meller Family Health Center as part of a grant-funded program and creating an “alliance” to assist individuals who are struggling to regain a foothold in society.
Page Humphrey, Iowa Department of Health & Human Services, said Lee County was the first site in Iowa to be selected for the program.
“It’s a day that we’ve been anticipating for many months now, planning  and preparing for, and really marks the beginning of something transformative in our state for families in need,” Humprhey said.
She said the state is taking a phased in approach to rolling out the program and is prioritizing programs based on community factors like numbers of children in foster care, families living in poverty, employment rates, and reports of neglect and abuse.
“This community was selected because of high levels of need, but also because of its readiness,” Humphrey said.
The program application submitted by Lee County Health Department included more than 20 letters of support, and Humphrey said that showed that stakeholders were ready to partner with LCHD to get the program off the ground.
The program will include one coordinator and two navigators that will be hired as employees of LCHD but the costs will be reimbursed by the Department of Health and Human Services' federal funds passed through the state.
“That level of commitment speak volumes and HHS is really proud to stand along side you in this effort,” she said. “The work you do today will set the tone for others across the state.”
Paul Chapman, Executive Director for Restore Hope based in Little Rock, Ark., talked about the process involved in getting individuals and families trapped in failing lifestyles the help they need.
Chapman said the program is run via a website supported by Restore Hope. Candidates for the program are only limited by the capacity of the support system. Those who come to the Thrive Initiative for help will fill it out an application online and then navigators will reach out to connect. Each person will be assigned an “alliance” of support volunteers who will connect with each other to address specific problems with each client whether it’s housing, therapy, transportation, childcare, etc. and move the client back from crisis to career.
“The key is how do you get the right leaders in the room and focus them all on what you do and how can we do that together to move someone from crisis to career – that’s the key,” Chapman said.
The program was created out of a Restore Hope Summit in Arkansas, convened by the governor at the time to help flatten the curve of rising prison populations and foster care census.
“We had to approach this problem in a brand new way,” Chapman said. “The problem is the fragmented nature of the programs that are out there, so when someone needs a program, we were really kind of dependent upon them to find us.”
He said the new premise 10 years ago was to find alignment to create differences in outcomes and efficiencies.
The program involves volunteers signing up for services specific to their skill sets and then being assigned in a cohort of at least 10 people who work with the navigators to build up a foundation to help individuals signed up for the programs to overcome obstacles, both short-term and long-term, and help usher the person and family back to stability.
Additional training and foundational efforts are coming in later weeks with another meeting set in March. Currently LCHD is reviewing applications for navigators, but have already hired Tessa Schroeder as the new coordinator for the program.
LCHD’s Michele Ross said she hoped the people in the room would see the importance of what the impact model can do for a community.
“We hope you give that strong consideration in joining the alliance, and we’re looking forward to working with all of you,” Ross said.