On this week’s episode of Money, I’m Home, Lynne is joined by Cherry Health President & CEO Tasha Blackmon to discuss the 2022 Cherry Health Celebration, the importance of senior health and more.

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0:00:06.8 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m Home. Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all, and we have wellness. And I’ll tell you what, one of our wonderful partners is joining us today. Tasha Blackmon, she is the President and CEO of Cherry Health, which is the most amazing organization that helps all of our members as well as people in the community with making sure that their health needs are met. Hey, Tasha, thanks so much for being with us today.

0:00:34.4 Tasha Blackmon (TB): I’m so happy to be here and so happy to partner with Consumers.

0:00:38.7 LJJ: Oh, I’ll tell you what, we have such great things going on, not only the ground…

0:00:42.4 TB: Yes.

0:00:43.1 LJJ: Like in Cherry Health itself, but also in our communities. Hey, tell us a little bit about just what’s going on at Cherry Health right now. What’s the pulse in the community. To me, what I’m hearing right now is flu shots.

0:00:56.9 TB: Yes. So, definitely flu clinics are starting where we’ve planned for flu shots and we’ve started our flu clinics, we’re also offering the third booster. So, for anyone looking for the COVID-19 booster we’re offering those, and we’re still doing sports physicals and back to school physicals for our students, so we’re very, very busy. I think what we found since the pandemic was that some individuals delayed their care. So now we’re encouraging them to come back in so that we can make sure that they’re meeting milestone appointments, and so that we can see them because we really do care about our patients, not just their health and wellness, but we care about everything that impacts their lives, like housing, food security, all of those things. So again, we just embrace our patients and want them to come back because we miss them.

0:01:55.0 LJJ: Well, tell us Tasha a little bit about Cherry Health itself. For those who think, “Oh, I don’t really know who Cherry Health is,” you guys are all over the state.

0:02:04.5 TB: We are. So Cherry Health is a federally qualified health center. We provide medical, dental, behavioral health care, substance use disorder treatment. We provide care in the schools as well to under-resourced families. So many of the families that we serve are working hard to make ends meet, but for whatever reason, they’re either uninsured or they’re under-insured. So, community health centers tend to be located in communities of need, and the goal is you’ll attend a health center in your neighborhood, so that the workers that you see actually live there. So, then there’s a familiarity.

0:02:47.0 TB: So, we call health centers, health care homes here at Cherry Health because we want people to have that sense that when you walk into the door, this is your place. The people that are here care about you, they only want the best for you. So, we are the largest federally qualified health center in the state, with 21 sites spread across six counties. We’ve got about 900 employees today, and we serve around 55,000 patients each year. So again, our impact, I think is widespread, but I will say we don’t do it without community partners, so again, that’s why it’s great to partner with organizations like Consumers. We partner with over 200 organizations in our community to make sure that we’re meeting the needs of not just our patients, but of our staff too. Because Cherry Health has a big heart for our staff because the truth is, in a non-profit environment, we’re not always able to offer some of the same benefits that other organizations offer, but the fact that these folks lead with their hearts, they’ve chosen careers that allow them to put their heart on display and to show that their personal values are in alignment with the values, the mission and the vision of the organization that they choose to be employed by.

0:04:14.2 TB: So, I think it’s up to us to make sure that we’re providing a great experience for them as well. So, I think about the wellness programs that we’re doing with you all, we’ve got a goal that any employee that works at Cherry Health will increase their credit score and in five years they should have an opportunity to buy a home. And we’re partnering with Consumers to reach that goal. And that was a vision that I shared with you, Lynne, and Lynne said, “Let’s do it. We’re going to make it happen.” So, I’ve been so fortunate to be able to partner with not just Lynne, but her entire team at Consumers, because your team is phenomenal, just all the way around. Everyone I’ve come into contact with is great, and I think our team… You think about health care just from a physical health standpoint, but there are so many other things that contribute to health. So financial health is one of those things that we want to make sure that our staff are grounded and that they have the tools that they need to be able to live the best quality life that they can possibly live.

0:05:24.5 LJJ: You and I have spoke in depth about the fact that when you are stressed financially…

0:05:31.2 TB: Yes.

0:05:31.7 LJJ: You in the long run, are not the best employee, you’re not…

0:05:34.1 TB: No.

0:05:34.1 LJJ: The best husband or spouse or caregiver that you can be because you’re constantly thinking about that next paycheck or what you’re going to be doing. And I do, I really applaud you, Tasha, because you really opened the doors to say, “How can we make a difference not only in the lives of the people that we serve, but the people that we hire?” And so we’re really, really proud to partner with you on that. I will tell you that we’re also very excited, November 2nd is a big day coming up for all of us, we’re really excited about this event, and I know that tickets are going to go very fast.

0:06:08.6 TB: Yes.

0:06:09.6 LJJ: But I love the concept of celebration, especially for people who you’re focusing on right now, which is the older adult population. Tell us a little bit about your celebration.

0:06:20.0 TB: Absolutely, so Celebration is our fall event, so what happens every single fall. And it is Cherry Health’s largest fundraiser of the year. So, at Celebration we pick a theme and that particular theme resonates deeply within the organization. So, we had mental health, for example, last year. We’ve had women’s health in the past and this year we’re really turning our attention to senior health. We know that seniors are living 20% longer than they did even 10 years ago. So, we want to make sure that we’re able to provide a robust and enriching experience for our seniors because they’re living longer. They’re maintaining activity and active lives much longer. So, we want to wrap services around our senior group so that they can stay at home as long as possible, and so that, again, they can live their best possible life no matter where they find themselves.

0:07:23.6 TB: And our goal is to meet people where they are. So, for some, that means that they have a chronic disease so we meet those folks where they are. And for others, it means that they’re just, hey, they’re chipping away at those milestone appointments and doing a great job. And we support those folks as well. But this particular year, our event is at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in downtown Grand Rapids. So, we’re going to again, be talking about our seniors and how we provide compassionate, comprehensive care, not just to seniors, but to all individuals. But this is our opportunity to really shine the light on our seniors, because again, we believe that they’re a valuable, intricate part of the work that we do, and we learn so much from our seniors. So, the registration for the event closes on October 19th.

0:08:23.0 TB: And if you want to learn more, you can check us out at cherryhealth.org/donate/events/celebration. And the great news is we do have some individuals that really are supportive of the work that we do, so much so that they become sponsors of our event. So, we want to thank our sponsors, whether it’s someone buying the table or somebody buying one ticket, we thank all of our sponsors and our donors for their support, because that support drives success for these events, and it makes an impact on how we’re able to deliver care into the future. So, we welcome all of your listeners to check out Cherry Health at our event on November 2nd at 6:00 PM at 20 Monroe Live. And if you have any questions, please feel free to visit our website at www.cherryhealth.org.

0:09:23.7 LJJ: I’ll tell you, Tasha, thank you, number one, for your passion for what you do, but also for the care that you are bringing our community. We are thrilled to celebrate with you. And for anybody listening, you can grab a ticket before October 19th. So, head to the website and do that. We’ll have that on all our social medias too. And you know what? Listen, if you can’t attend the event, there’s a couple things you can do. You can donate, but you can also volunteer with Cherry Health. So, make sure, go to their site, find out the things that you could do to get involved in your communities and start to serve with your heart the way that Tasha and her team does so well.

0:10:01.3 TB: Oh, yeah. We’d love to have you. And one of the things that we say to our donors is, no gift is too small. Every single gift matters. So, if you feel it in your heart to care for your neighbor, your neighbor who’s working hard, who’s trying to make ends meet, but for whatever reason, they just are struggling, this is an opportunity. And what we find is that our patients are not looking for a handout. They’re looking for a hand up. So, I invite you all to help me and to help our organization to give a hand up to those who deserve access to quality, affordable health care. And I believe together we can change our entire community into a place where everyone feels that they belong. Everyone has an opportunity to thrive and live their best life possible. So, I hope you guys will join me in that endeavor.

0:11:01.0 LJJ: Thank you so much, Tasha. And I’d like to give a little shout out too to our Consumers @Work Team. This is the team that is going into Cherry Health and helping employees really step up their savings and learn about credit score. If your company is interested in having us partner with you, we sure would love you to reach out.

0:11:19.2 TB: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

0:11:22.3 LJJ: Everybody, don’t forget, November 2nd is the date, October 19th is the day you need to register. Let’s get on that web. Hey everybody, thanks for joining us. Hey, Jake Esselink, thank you for your production skills. Everybody have a wonderful week and I hope that you know that money can be your home. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson, Money, I’m home with Consumers Credit Union.

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