The RCHN Community Health Foundation, in collaboration with the Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, has launched Chronicles, an ambitious project to document the vibrant, varied, and important history of every community health center in the country, as well as the community health center movement. Chronicles aims to create an interactive, online chronicle that will permit every health center that desires to do so to tell its own story, through the voices of its staff, patients, board members, and community. Starting in the 1960s with two health centers in Mound Bayou, Mississippi and Boston, Massachusetts, the community health center program has evolved into more than 1,200 federally funded centers serving more than 20 million people at 8, 000 delivery sites in the nation's poorest urban and rural communities. As the largest primary health care system for low income and medically underserved persons, CHCs today play a crucial role in the health care delivery system, providing a strong network of accessible, high quality services.
Every health center story is unique, reflecting the needs and aspirations of the community it serves. Building on the individuals stories of each center, Chronicles will create, through a single, powerful online portal, a "virtual quilt" that tells the story of the founding, development and growth of the community health center movement -- one health center at a time -- from its early days to the present.
The site features written and oral histories, historic documents, photographs and other media, and showcases the living history of the health center movement. Chronicles is a virtual experience intended to educate, engage, interest and inspire students, researchers, policymakers and health centers alike.
Chronicles launched in July 2011, with contributed materials from a small group of health centers and other organizations. Over time, we will be working with every health center in the country to customize a profile tell their story. View the site at www.chcchronicles.org.
For more information and to participate please contact:
RCHN Community Health Foundation
Chronicles Project Coordinator
212-246 1122 ext 700
About the RCHN Community Health Foundation
The RCHN Community Health Foundation (RCHN CHF) is a New York-based not-for-profit operating foundation dedicated to supporting and benefiting community health centers (CHCs) in New York state and nationally. The Foundation develops and supports programmatic and business initiatives related to community health center access, pharmacy and health information technology through strategic investment, research, outreach, education, and coalition building.
About the Geiger Gibson Program
The Geiger Gibson Program in Community Health Policy is a special initiative of The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. This program was established in 2004 to honor Drs. H. Jack Geiger and Count Gibson, pioneers in community health practice and tireless advocates for civil and human rights. Through education, research, and training in community practice and leadership, the program aims to develop the next generation of community health leaders and support the study of community health centers.
