Thank you for a wonderful Bridges to Healthcare event
The inaugural Bridges to Healthcare event is history. If it weren’t for the big-event intimidation factor, we’d have organized a big event when we first started accepting patients, back in March 2008. It was truly powerful to see nearly 400 people who are committed to the same thing in the same room. Particularly for physicians who have been involved with Project Access from the very beginning, seeing how many people they know and respect are also involved may have come as a surprise. I overheard one person say, “When I looked up at the Hilton mezzanine, I thought, that can’t be us, that’s too many people!”
Indeed, when you’re in the trenches, working to ensure access to care for the most vulnerable among us, you may not see the growing capacity and support Project Access NOW has been garnering. The event was symbolic of a lot of people taking advantage of a unique environment created by Project Access NOW. This environment allows for simple involvement in donating care in a way that it can be best utilized. It is our hope that this first Bridges to Healthcare event will instill in our providers and supporters a sense of community around healthcare access.
I would once again like to acknowledge a small but hearty group of volunteers who pulled the event together: Debbie Rieke, Kathi Misner, Vicki Cameron, Janet Williams, Larlene Dunsmuir, Linda Leis, and many others. A huge thank you goes out to the event sponsors, whose contributions covered the event cost. Sponsor support means that all of the $25,000 raised at the event will go toward service provision.
If you were there, thank you for coming. We could not have done it without you and your support. If you missed it this year, we hope you can join us next year — it’s a really wonderful event. Either way, I invite you to take a look at the following:
- Gallery of photos from the event. Images are available for purchase. Thank you Andie Petkus for the wonderful job on the photos!
- The People of Project Access video showed at the event in what could have been its world premiere.
- Storyboards with short patient stories, displayed around the venue
- Event report
Sincerely,
Linda Nilsen-Solares
Executive Director
(April 2010)

