Washington County Public Health Awards

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Public Health Awards 2009

Washington County Department of Health and Human Services today announced the winners of their annual Public Health Awards. They are the Community Action's Opening Doors program in the organization category and Lisa Vincent in the individual category.

Opening Doors is a prenatal outreach program that links low-income pregnant women with the resources they need for healthy births. Through enhanced outreach, education and public awareness, Opening Doors increases participating in maternal child health programs and improves healthy birth outcomes. Opening Doors succeeded in equipping 511 low-income pregnant women for healthy births, 52 at-risk pregnant women received comprehensive services to enable healthy births, and 100 % of them gave birth to healthy babies during fiscal year 2007 – 2008.

Opening Doors works collaboratively with the Oregon Health Plan, Citizen Alien Waiver Emergency Medical program and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. They receive financial support from Washington County Commission on Children and Families, Kaiser Permanente, Tuality Healthcare, Legacy Health Systems, Providence St. Vincent Hospital, Care Oregon, Oregon MothersCare and private foundations. Community Action's Opening Doors program is allied with other Opening Doors programs throughout the county.

Lisa Vincent is a nutrition services Operations Supervisor for the Beaverton School District and was nominated for her work with the Summer Food Program, which works to ensure that all children, regardless of income, have regular nutritious meals during the summer months, when school cafeteria free or reduced-priced meal services are closed. Vincent coordinates with Beaverton School District and apartment complexes, parks, churches, and other schools in Beaverton to implement summer food sites throughout the city.

Since meals are only reimbursed to the program for children, Vincent brings extra assistance to assure that parents may come and eat along side their children and have the same access to nutritious meals. Parents report that their children eat more vegetables and fruits and have less food waste when parents eat along side their children.

Vincent and her staff deliver both meals and activities to apartment complexes and other meal sites to children would not otherwise participate. She incorporated an educational and hands-on gardening experience into several sites last year.

The awards will be presented at a short ceremony on Thursday, April 9, at 9:00 a.m. at the Shirley Huffman Auditorium of the Charles D. Cameron Public Service Building, 155 N. First Ave., in Hillsboro. The public is invited for the ceremony and a reception that will follow.

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