Article written by Urban Alliance staff*. Photos courtesy of Urban Alliance staff and network participants.
Each year during the Revitalize Community Health Outreach Day, Doug Casey, along with an eager group of volunteers from his church, Valley Brook Community Church in Granby, head out to greet residents in Hartford with two goals in mind: to let people know that they are valued and cared for, and to help them connect to available services that will help them move towards optimal physical health.
And, this year will be no different.
Casey is one of hundreds of people from more than a dozen Christian organizations that have participated in the Revitalize Community Health Outreach Day, a day each spring that is filled with positive energy and excitement, and a day when hundreds of Hartford residents are provided with information about local free and low-cost health services through a door-to-door volunteer effort.
“The outreach changes lives by expressing clearly that the people behind Revitalize care for them,” explained Casey.
Just last year, more than 3,500 health resource bags were distributed on Revitalize Community Health Outreach Day, in seven Hartford neighborhoods stretching from Barbour Street to Franklin Avenue.
“Sharing time door to door, handshake to handshake with brothers and sisters in our community is so rewarding, it seems as much for volunteers as it is for the residents,” said Casey.
The Revitalize Community Health Outreach also provides an opportunity for suburban churches to partner with Hartford-based churches. Valley Brook has partnered with Phillips Metropolitan CME Church, and each year, their camaraderie blossoms as they unify to help people together in our local community.
“Every year, God orchestrates such wonderful interactions with the residents of neighborhoods we meet. He has put us in the path of people who are grateful for the health information and coupons as well as people with deeper spiritual needs,” said Casey, “This boots-on-the-ground initiative and the amazing prayer and healing that come out of it have changed everyone involved.”
If your organization is in the Urban Alliance network and you’re interested in participating in the 2016 Revitalize Community Health Outreach Day on Saturday, June 11, at least one volunteer group leader must attend the upcoming orientation:
Date: Thursday, March 31, 2016
Time: 5:00-5:30 pm dinner; 5:30-7:00 pm orientation
Location: Urban Alliance, 62 Village Street, East Hartford, CT
Registration Deadline: Monday, March 28, 2016
To register, click here.
If your organization is not yet in the Urban Alliance network but you’d like to participate in Revitalize, or if you have additional questions, contact Jessica Sanderson, Urban Alliance’s Senior Director of Research & Strategy at by clicking here or at 860.986.7461.
