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Central America Roundtables
Recognizing a need in a region torn by civil war, Vesper Society was part of a partnership that orchestrated a series of Central America Roundtables aimed at achieving peace. In 1990, Vesper Society partnered with Georgetown University and the Washington Center for Central American Studies to sponsor a roundtable discussion among top-level representatives from across the political spectrum in El Salvador. A second roundtable was held in 1991 to continue these discussions among government, labor, church, military, and insurgent parties to find common ground by focusing on long-range planning for post-war progress and prosperity. The roundtables were successful and made a significant impact on the peace process. The civil war in El Salvador came to an end in 1992. These gatherings were a precursor to the first Guatemala Roundtable that contributed to their 1996 peace accords. In 1993, the United Nations asked the international community to actively participate in supporting the formal Guatemalan peace process through organizing projects focusing on informal diplomacy. In response, Dr. Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and Vesper Society collaborated to support the peace process in Guatemala. Vesper Society’s mission at that time was to create opportunities for individuals and institutions to apply moral and ethical values in decision-making on critical social and economic issues. Our vision was to create a compassionate world that protects human dignity and enhances human potential. This vision guided the methodology of bringing together carefully-selected individuals in a structure that provided a direct experience with a working democracy—giving equal worth and opportunity to all participants and utilizing techniques designed to move participants beyond their narrow individual interests into a larger vision of the common good. The 1994 roundtable was held in San Francisco’s Presidio and aimed to assist in creating conditions for a... Read More
Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo
In the rural desert of southeast California’s Imperial County, one in five children are affected by asthma—a percentage higher than the national average. Thankfully, the community is home to Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo. Clinicas’ mission is to improve the health and well-being of Imperial and East Riverside counties by providing direct access to affordable, comprehensive, quality primary and preventive health care for high-risk and underserved residents, all in a manner consistent with their dignity and identity. Recognizing a community need, Vesper Society supported Clinicas in starting a comprehensive pediatric asthma program that includes asthma education, environmental assessments and remediation, chronic care coordination, and home visits by Community Health Workers or “Promotoras.” Vesper’s funding support allowed Clinicas to continue their important work improving the health and well-being of Imperial and East Riverside Counties and enabled them to tackle the very important issue of pediatric asthma in the community. Click here to read a summary of the Respira Sano Asthma Toolkit they developed and that is available for distribution. In August 2015, with Vesper’s support, Clinicas is developing telemedicine services, especially as part of their new integrated behavioral health... Read More
California Lutheran University Interns
California Lutheran University (CLU) educates leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice. Vesper Society knows that communities and institutions can be transformed when people are approached with respect, hope, passion, and inspiration. CLU’s Interfaith Allies presented an opportunity for Vesper Society to create the CLU intern program in memory of Vesper’s co-founder Bob Cummings who served on the CLU Board of Regents. Vesper’s support made it possible for five students and three faculty members from CLU’s Interfaith Allies to attend Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institutes in 2012. Since then, the program has blossomed. Interfaith Allies values pluralism, tackles stereotypes, supports faith formation, and develops interfaith competencies for leadership. Service learning, internships, off-campus study, and experiential education provide students with opportunities to build civic leadership skills. Joining other universities in Water to Thrive’s push to spread awareness about the global water crisis, CLU’s water-wise campaign culminated with a weeklong challenge for students to track their water usage and consumption. Participants only drank tap water and donated the money they would have spent on other beverages to build a well in Ethiopia. By linking arms with student and faculty leaders at California Lutheran University, Vesper Society is part of a growing network that helps facilitate change to establish long-term solutions for overlooked communities all over the world. Visit CLU Interfaith Allies’ Facebook page... Read More
Connecting to Care Telehealth Services
In 2011, the Health Resources and Services Administration stated that, compared to urban and suburban Americans, rural Americans with behavioral health disorders are significantly less likely to receive any type of treatment for their behavioral health due to lack of resources. And, in an era of increased poverty levels, travel costs are an even greater barrier to rural residents receiving specialty services not locally available. Connecting to Care (CtoC) provides charitable health services using innovative technology to connect underserved populations to care and promotes the health and well-being of individuals regardless of their economic status. Medical providers in a number of rural sites in Northern California reported that telepsychiatry and telebehavioral health programs were unavailable or unaffordable. With support from Vesper Society, these programs are now operational in eleven clinics in Plumas, El Dorado, Modoc, Nevada, and Shasta Counties. CtoC has provided over 1,000 telebehavioral health visits to rural partner sites since the program’s inception. Connecting to Care, located in Grass Valley and Redding, California, also provides remote specialty bi-lingual physician-level adult/child psychiatric care and the services of licensed clinical psychologists, nurse practitioners, and licensed clinical social workers. They conduct programs on-site in their Redding office as well as remotely in rural health clinic sites. Vesper Society knows that rural areas need more attention. Connecting to Care’s Telebehavioral Health Services Program has clearly created long-term solutions that improve the health and well-being of the medically underserved, rural, and frontier Northern California... Read More
John Muir Community Health Alliance – Mobile Dental Clinic
Contra Costa was in dire need of dental services for underserved and low-income communities. In response to that need, The Dental Collaborative of Contra Costa’s Mobile Dental Clinic program has been providing free dental services for the region’s youth since 2004. With Vesper Society’s support, the Mobile Dental Clinic has provided 11,041 dental visits to 5,086 children. Additionally, over 47,000 children received oral health assessments in schools and community sites and over 25,000 received fluoride applications. Of the children the program serves in Contra Costa County, only 17 percent have insurance. The Dental Collaborative of Contra Costa County is comprised of Contra Costa County Health Services, John Muir Community Health Alliance, Brookside Community Health Center, La Clínica de la Raza, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bay Area in California. As the program celebrates ten years of service to the community, their 2014 focus is to provide dental services directly at school sites in West Contra Costa County, allowing children to miss less school while receiving dental care. Vesper Society supported the Dental Collaborative’s mission to provide access to high quality dental services, to improve health outcomes, and to link patients to a dental and medical home for ongoing... Read More