South Central Regional Medical Center realizes that our patients are our community. In order to provide the best possible care; it is our job to help provide you with information that helps you with all aspects of life.
When you have your health you have everything! South Central Regional Medical Center not only wants you to be healthy but to have a healthy family too! ALIVE Jones County.s goal is to help you be the best parent you can be, to help fathers be great dads, to help youth make positive choices, and to strengthen marriages and families throughout our community!
On February 11, 1997, 25 community leaders met for the first time to develop a plan for improving the health, well-being and quality of life for all citizens of Jones County. They named the effort ALIVE Jones County to symbolize the energy and enthusiasm associated with a healthy community. The project was initiated by South Central Regional Medical Center; however, the research was performed and the final plan developed by the group of community leaders.
The research phase involved collecting and analyzing data from 16 different sources as well as data from surveys sent to 10,000 Jones Countians. At the completion of the research phase, critical issues were identified and prioritized. Focus groups including 100 citizens were conducted to confirm the data. Finally a community health improvement plan was developed by the steering committee based upon the research results and focus group input.
The research indicated the following national concerns to be the top four issues to be tackled by ALIVE Jones County.
What can we do about these issues? Most importantly, we can all get involved and help put the community health improvement plan into action. Each person has a role to play in leaving this world and community a little better for the next generation. ALIVE Jones County is our vehicle to do just that. It gives us a blueprint from which to work and some common goals into which we can pour our time and energy.
The lives of many children and their families are beginning to be impacted as a result of expanded programs developed through the partnership of the Laurel Exchange Club and ALIVE Jones County, a division of South Central Regional Medical Center. The two organizations united their mission one year ago and the progress is remarkable. Phase one included a $10,000 donation to be used to establish the Exchange Parent-Youth Resource Library in the Teen Education Center at Sawmill Square Mall. Bilingual materials were made available at no charge for parents and youth regarding current issues of abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, safety, internet protection, health, nutrition, discipline, and child abuse prevention. The library included pamphlets, videos, booklets, coloring books and brochures.
In order to promote the resource library and Child Abuse Prevention Month, 4,500 Good Touch Bad Touch coloring books were distributed to all K - 3 students in both the city and county schools. These age-appropriate books served as an educational tool for parents and educators to teach their young children.
Another promotional event was the co-sponsorship of Spook Fest, an annual family Halloween alternative, held at Sawmill Square Mall. Over 600 children received a Halloween Safety educational pack sponsored by the Laurel Exchange Club. A Little Pumpkins costume contest and a Protect our Little Pumpkins decorating contest were held to raise awareness of the dedication to the prevention of child abuse.
With the success of the Kim's No Bull / Laurel Exchange Club Annual Golf Tournament in August 2005, over $15,000 was raised to begin phase two which allowed for the development of new projects to further their efforts. Another $1,500 dollars was donated to the Laurel Exchange Club by the Chisholm Foundation to benefit Parent / Youth Services. On December 8, 2005, a check for $16,500 was presented to ALIVE Jones County by the Laurel Exchange Club.
Moving toward visions developed many years ago, the Laurel Exchange Club hosted its first Child Abuse Prevention Conference on April 20 - 21. The goal of this conference was to educate family service professionals about the role poverty plays in child abuse. Through the nationally recognized consultant company, Aha! Process, developed by Dr. Ruby Payne, social workers, educators, healthcare providers and counselors had the opportunity to participate in a once in a lifetime conference at a reduced fee due to the sponsorship of Laurel Exchange Club. The fee included training materials, a copy of the book entitled Bridges Out of Poverty, the cost of continuing education credits and food for the 2-day seminar.
Last November, the Laurel Exchange Club lost a valuable member of its organization. Jimmie Roberts was serving as the club president at the time of his unexpected death. A true enhancement to the Child Abuse Prevention Conference was a memorial tribute to his tireless dedication, commitment to service and compassion for children that he continuously demonstrated through community leadership.
Don Hall, Chairman of the Parent Youth Services committee for the Exchange Club stated, "We are seeing our vision come to fruition and it is very rewarding. We have wanted to host a conference of this magnitude to not only provide the education needed for family service professionals to impact the lives of the children they serve, but also to thank family service providers in our area for efforts to serve in a very tough line of work." Rebecca Huff, President of the Laurel Exchange Club, commented, "Family service providers do their jobs because they love children and we want them to know that we appreciate them."
Phase three has already begun. ALIVE Jones County is funded through grant programs with the support of South Central Regional Medical Center. Due to the strength of this growing collaboration, the opportunity was presented to absorb the Covington County Families First Resource Center, a program funded through the Mississippi State Department of Human Services. The Laurel Exchange Club, at one time, supported a County Child Abuse Prevention Agency and ALIVE Jones County originally began as a TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) program, so both partners were excited to embrace this $145,000 grant opportunity. The ALIVE Jones County Families First Resource Center serves Jones, Jasper, Covington and Smith Counties. The Mississippi State Department of Human Services has identified four primary service goals: parenting education, healthy marriage initiative, fatherhood initiative, and abstinence education.
In order to accommodate the program expansion, the Teen Education Center was moved to a new location in Sawmill Square Mall (the old Nelson/Gibson Optical Suite at the center court entrance to the mall.) It was also determined that a name change was needed to adequately represent the services provided. The Teen Education Center will now operate as the ALIVE Jones County Educational Center for Healthy Families. This umbrella includes both the Jones County Families First Resource Center and the Exchange Parent-Youth Service Center.
With a new name and a new year, the Laurel Exchange Club recognizes the positive impact of this partnership to strengthen families and serve children. With their missions aligned, ALIVE Jones County will continue to work with the Laurel Exchange Club toward the common goal: to end child abuse.
The Laurel Exchange Club presented Doug Higginbotham, Executive Director of South Central Regional Medical Center, a check for $30,000 to be used for the ALIVE Jones County Education Center.
The Exchange Club raised these funds through the success of the Laurel Exchange Club/Kim's No-Bull Golf Tournament held this past June. Don Hall, chairman of the golf tournament planning committee shared with those in attendance, "This year it just worked. With the support from Bob and Kim Hobbs and our partnership with ALIVE Jones County everything just came together beautifully. The community is really supporting our mission."
Last year the Laurel Exchange Club grew closer together from the unexpected death of the club president Jimmie Roberts. He was a longtime member of the organization and very committed to the prevention of child abuse. "We are where we are today because of Jimmie Roberts. It is his vision, determination and compassion that has motivated us to make a difference in our community," stated Elizabeth Kilgore ALIVE Jones County Education Center Coordinator. "I know he would be proud of the progress we have made this year."
The ALIVE Jones County Education Center is a division of South Central Regional Medical Center and the Laurel Exchange Club. Located in Sawmill Square Mall, the ALIVE Jones County Families First Resource Center offers a wide range of family services to the community. The center provides parenting classes, a fatherhood program, healthy marriage workshops, abstinence programs as well as a community resource library with free information for the community.
Becca Huff currently serves as club president. She stated, "The Laurel Exchange Club is proud of our partnership with South Central Regional Medical Center's ALIVE Jones County. We feel that Exchange's main mission of child abuse prevention is fulfilled by almost every one of their programs."
Copyright 2006 Alive Jones County in cooperation with Cybergate, Inc.