Why are personal stories important?
By
sharing the stories we collect from around the state, we hope that you
are adding each one to your advocacy tool kit. When you talk to
your stakeholders - community members, sponsors and supporters,
parents, school administrators and legislators, be ready to talk about
SBHCs by drawing from real experiences.
Making it real, and personal, is a powerful, very effective communication style!
This story from Tigard
reminds us all that SBHC's serve families by providing access to care
with minimal or no interruption to a parent's work schedule. More
importantly, SBHCs keep kids in school, healthy and ready to learn!
“I
feel so lucky to have a school-based health center at my child’s high
school. It has been a tremendous resource for my family,” says Lisa
Carroll, parent to a Tigard High School sophomore.
“My
daughter wasn’t feeling well and visited the SBHC at her school.
Margaret, the Nurse Practitioner ran a quick lab test, got the results
immediately, emailed a prescription to the pharmacy that my daughter
was able to pick up on her way home from school. She didn’t have to
miss any class time, nor did I lose anytime at work. She started to
feel better right away and best of all, we avoided the lengthy,
unpredictable wait at the Urgent Care office. It was a phenomenal
experience.”
Spotlight on Canby SBHC
Aides to
Congressman Kurt Schrader and Senator Jeff Merkley visited Canby High
School’s health center this week to meet with students and learn about
federal efforts to expand SBHCs.
Canby
seniors Rachel Schultz, Aaron Kratzer and Sarah Morrow talked about how
the youth advisory group’s marketing campaign has greatly increased the
number of students accessing services at their health center, which
opened less than a year ago.
The students also used supportive SBHC messages that they honed at the Network’s SBHC Awareness Month Kick Off event at the capitol to discuss the importance of providing quality health care on campus.
Trevor
Lockwood, the mental health provider at the school, led the tour. Liz
Smith Currie, the Network’s policy director, discussed the need for
federal authorization and funding for SBHCs.
