Q Health Connections Receives Best Practice Award

GOVERNOR’S COUNCIL ON FAITH AND COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVES PRESENTS BEST PRACTICES AWARDS TO Q HEALTH CONNECTIONS

~Presented at the Minnesota Faith-Based and Community Forum~

~ Models and Programs for Reentry-  ~

~ Programs Supporting Families and Children  ~ 

St. Paul –  The Governor’s Council on Faith and Community Service Initiatives presented the 2009 Best Practices Awards to Q Health Connections on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at the Progressive Baptist Church Family Life Center, 1505 Burns Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota.   The awards were presented by Lee Buckley, Special Advisor to Governor Tim Pawlenty, Windell Clint Calvert, Acting Chair of the Governor’s Council and Joan Fabian, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.  Accepting the award were Clarence Jones, Director, Sara Khalfa, Assistant Director and Bill Tendle, Executive Director, Southside Community Health Services. 

Q Health Connections collaborates with community and national organizations to develop strategies and provide innovative, market-focused health services that have a lasting, positive impact on the lives of everyday people.  The collaboration between the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) and Q Health Connections is successful because the community provided input from the start.  Through this partnership, veterans in the community and their families have benefited by having a representative from the Department of Veterans Affairs come to the community to meet their physical and emotional needs.  This has increased access to medical care, financial resources, and educational opportunities for community members.  Extending the collaboration to partners like the Minneapolis NAACP has increased credibility and visibility within communities that were previously difficult to reach by the MDVA.  Annually, Q Health Connection coordinates a Community Veterans’ Day Celebration to connect residents of diverse communities with the MDVA Outreach staff and resources. 

The awards were presented during the Minnesota Faith-Based and Community Forum which focused on programs supporting the reentry of ex-offenders, programs for families and children, and collaborative service initiatives. 

The Governor’s Faith and Community Service Initiatives Best Practices Awards program was established by this Council in 2006 to recognize grassroots faith and community organizations with best practices models for collaborating with a variety of resources and that have positively impacted a social condition and changed the lives of individuals.   

The eight other recipients of the 2009 Governor’s Faith and Community Service Initiatives Best Practices Awards are: 

Inspired to Serve – Youth Led Interfaith Action – Saint Paul, MN

Jordan New Life Hub – North Minneapolis, MN

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans –(MAC-V) – Saint Paul, MN

Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council – Communities Empowering Youth 

Nonprofit Capacity Building Program – Brooklyn, Center, MN

Pine River Backus Family Center – Pine River, MN

Samuel Simmons Consulting – Minneapolis, MN

West Central Youth For Christ – Willmar, MN

YouthCARE – Minneapolis, MN 

The Minnesota Faith-Based and Community Forum featured presentations from 23 individuals representing 16 organizations from across the Twin Cities, Rochester and Duluth.  It also included an update on the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships from Peg Chemberlin, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Churches, President Elect of the National Council of Churches and newly appointed to the President’s Advisory Council for the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  Together these representatives from state and local government, and nonprofit and faith-based organizations presented successful service programs and models that support youth, fathers and families and the reentry of ex-offenders.  Models that build the capacity of organizations and communities were also presented.