Advocacy efforts have been underway for several years now in Missouri and Kansas to expand coverage of Medicaid. Through my work at safety net clinic Mercy and Truth Medical Missions, I see individuals every week that are not covered under the plan, and they struggle to cover the cost of a co-pay to see a doctor or a nurse practitioner.

That’s why advocacy is important.  

Advocacy is about influencing the lawmakers and informing them of where you stand on the issues. This can be challenging. I’ve had some appointments with lawmakers that have made me want to weep with frustration. And, some have developed into friendships. But you have to keep going and working so that the legislators understand how they can assist the people your organization serves.
Here are 12 steps I’ve learned about building relationships while we’ve been advocating for Medicaid expansion:

1. Relationship building should not just happen when lawmakers are in Jefferson City or Topeka. As best you can, it needs to be a year-round journey. Use email or pick up the phone and touch base with them during the “offseason.”
2. Invite your representatives and senators to visit your organization, see how it operates, and how they can assist you. But remember it should be a two-way street. Always ask if there is anything you can do to help them.
3. During the legislative session, find out when like minded-organizations will be going to the Capitol. Ask to partner with them. There’s strength in numbers!
4. Each state senator and representative will have an administrative assistant. Get to know them. They normally help senators and representatives keep their calendars. When you go to your respective state capitol building, you’ll want to make sure you have appointments set up with as many legislative members as you can.
5. Invite board members and even patients to come with you to talk. When you invite them, you’ll need to make sure that they understand the key issues, and that they also know who you will be visiting. Also remind everyone to bring business cards.
6. Start positive! When you are ready for your meeting, always thank the legislator for any support that they have given. Even if you’re not on the same page on every issue, you should be able to thank them for serving your state.
7. When I visit a legislator, I always like to get their “feel” for how they think the session is going and what do they perceive the challenges to be in the current session.  
8. Then, quickly state why you are visiting and what support you are asking for. The vast majority of the meetings that I’ve had have been only 10 to 15 minutes. So, this is the time for the “elevator speech” about why you’re there.
9. Sometimes, if you haven’t said everything you want to say, they will allow you to walk with them to their next appointment or committee meeting. Take them up on that opportunity.
10. Always take a photograph with them. They want their constituents to see that they have time for meetings. Post that photograph on social media.
11. Send a thank you note. I always try to reiterate what I was there to talk with them about.

Advocacy work can be challenging, but can also be so rewarding. The one thing that always encourages me is when I remember that I’m speaking for the thousands of our patients who can’t make a trip to the Capitol, yet they need the services that would be provided by Medicaid expansion.

I have a picture of one of our patients on my phone who had a baby about a year ago. I went to visit her in the hospital. She was blessed to be on Medicaid, so she did not have to worry about her care or the care her newborn would receive. I keep that picture to remind myself that I’m fighting for them!

Thank you all for advocating and taking the time to make a difference in someone’s life.  

​By Anne F. Rauth, MBA on April 11, 2019
Marketing and Development Director
Mercy and Truth Medical Missions

Mercy and Truth Medical Missions, a safety net clinic with locations in Wyandotte and Johnson County, Kansas, hosted an event the Saturday before Thanksgiving, November 17, 2018 called Warm up Wyandotte.

The event lasted under an hour and a half due to an overwhelming demand for the items that were offered for free. Thanks to sponsorships and donations, we were able to give away approximately 400 coats, 200 turkeys, and 150 flu vaccinations to our community members.

As Dr. Alex Kieu, the medical director, said, “It looked like Black Friday outside our building with the lines of people!” The event was slated to start at 8 a.m., but lines started forming outside the Mercy and Truth clinic at 7 a.m. in anticipation of receiving the items.

In planning this event, we wanted to make sure that Wyandotte County stayed healthy by providing flu shots and that our neighbors will be a little warmer this winter with a coat. Our clinic has so many things to be thankful for, and we hope that a turkey would help many families have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The Mayor of the Unified Government David Alvey helped promote the event by coming to the Mercy and Truth KCK location prior to the event and getting his flu shot. He encouraged other residents to also stay healthy and come to the event.
“The Mayor’s encouragement and his support helped to kick start our event,” said Executive Director Geofrey Kigenyi. “And he didn’t even flinch when our medical assistant gave him his shot!”

While the lines were forming outside, and before attendees went inside to get a flu shot and look for a coat, we handed out a short survey. Over 80 percent of the survey respondents said that they came to Warm Up Wyandotte for a turkey and/or a coat.

Of those in attendance who responded to the survey, 41 percent said they did not have a medical home and over 32 percent had not seen a doctor in 2018.  Survey respondents were asked to write in why they had not seen a doctor, and the number one reason was that they did not have insurance or Medicaid.  

Because of these responses, and because of the uninsured population that Mercy and Truth Medical Missions serves, our staff and board will once again be journeying to Topeka to advocate for Medicaid expansion in Kansas.

This event was held in Kansas City, Kansas, but Mercy and Truth also operates a clinic in Shawnee, Kansas. Using donations from Health Forward and other organizations, along with Community Service Tax Credits, we have moved into a new and expanded clinic space in September, and are still raising funds for this expansion, which will dramatically increase the number of patients we will be able to treat. 

By Anne F. Rauth, MBA on December 7, 2018
Marketing and Development Director
Mercy and Truth Medical Missions

Having a full medical appointment calendar where your doctor and nurse practitioner are fully booked is good. Having a high no-show rate is not.

We determine a no-show patient as one who has confirmed an appointment but does not arrive. While the reasons for not keeping an appointment are personal to each individual, it creates a ripple effect on the clinic and its patients. Each missed appointment is a missed opportunity for the clinic to see another patient in need. It could also be detrimental to the no-show patient. Regular checkups are crucial to preventive care and early detection of health issues.

In short, it’s a critical issue to clinics, the patient, and other patients who couldn’t book an appointment during that time slot.

Every clinic deals with this issue, and our clinic is no exception.

Help for this challenge came to us at Mercy and Truth Medical Missions in the form of an applicant defined grant last summer from Health Forward.

With this grant we have been able to hire someone to make reminder calls to our patients about their appointments, and with the new phone system, when a message is left, the patient can immediately redial the listed number to connect with the appropriate clinic.

“Our former phone system at the time was so antiquated that the manufacturer said we could not update it any more,” said Geofrey Kigenyi, executive director. “With this new phone system, we are able to do so much more and be so much more productive.”

With our new phone system and these other resources, I’m happy to report that our no-show rate has started to decrease. As we reduce our no-show rate, we correspondingly decrease the number of unused appointments, increase the opportunity for preventive care, and move toward sustainability.

There are obviously numbers and outcomes to report on for each grant, but included in each and every number is a story. I’d like to share one of the stories our scheduler experienced: a female patient had come into our clinic as a part of the Early Detection Works program and had qualified for a free Pap smear.

The results of the Pap smear came back with abnormalities, so the scheduler called the patient to make an appointment for a colposcopy. The patient confirmed, but unfortunately did not show up.

The scheduler called her to reschedule. They set a new date, again it was confirmed, and again she did not show.

It was the third time that our scheduler contacted this patient that she admitted she just didn’t have the money for this visit, and that was why she kept missing her appointment.

Now that we know her “why,” we can work on the “what” will it take to get her in our clinic. One by one, little by little, day by day, we are working to change health outcomes. And, sometimes it starts with a phone call. Thanks to Health Forward funding, we can have that phone call.

If your clinic is experiencing no-show rates higher than you would like, we’d love to brainstorm ideas with you. It’s a common problem, and there’s not just one solution. But collaborating and working together is a start.

​By Anne F. Rauth, MBA on March 5, 2018
Marketing and Development Director
Mercy and Truth Medical Missions

The state of Kansas, and specifically the Kansas Department of Commerce, created an interesting program that assists nonprofits in achieving fundraising goals.

Through their Community Service Program, state tax credits are annually awarded to nonprofits through a highly competitive application. Nonprofits can then pass these tax credits on to any donor who contributes $250 or more to an approved fundraising project.

Tax credits help organizations specifically with major capital fundraising drives. Each year there is a competitive grant process where nonprofits apply to receive a limited number of tax credits. Thirteen organizations scattered throughout the state received the credits in 2017.

If an organization is located in a rural area (defined as population under 15,000), donors will receive 70 percent of their donation amount as a Kansas tax credit. For organizations in the rest of the state, the tax credit amount is 50 percent of the donation. And, at least through the end of 2017, the donor still receives the federal tax deduction for this donation. That’s a powerful incentive for a business or individual who wants to donate!

To be awarded the tax credits, organizations must fill out an extensive application. Some of the required information includes:

• A complete budget of the proposed project
• An estimate of the project’s economic analysis
• Letters of support (Mercy and Truth submitted letters from select Kansas House of Representative members, Kansas Senators, Shawnee elected officials, and general supporters)

The full application and details for the Kansas tax credits grant can be found on the Department of Commerce’s website.

We are so excited that the Kansas Department of Commerce selected our organization, Mercy and Truth Medical Missions, as a recipient of the community development tax credits. We are the only non-profit in Johnson and Wyandotte County to receive the award this year.

While we receive funding through the Health Forward Foundation for our safety net clinic work in Wyandotte and Johnson County, the tax credits will allow us to expand our operations. We will use the funds to expand our Shawnee clinic, which has been operating in the same location for more than 20 years.

There are around 45,000 uninsured individuals in Johnson County, Kansas, and with this new building, we can serve so many more patients. Currently Mercy and Truth uses an 850-square-foot building to serve around 3,000 patients annually in Shawnee, Kansas.

With the donations from the community development tax credits, we hope to more than double our clinic space and dramatically increase the number of patients we see. It presents an incredible opportunity to reach even more people in need of access to quality health care.

Because the Community Service Program’s tax credits were approved in late 2017, organizations have  until Dec. 31, 2018, to give the credits to qualified donors. Please contact Anne Rauth (anne.rauth@mercyandtruth.com) if you are interested in donating.

We cannot emphasize enough what a difference a tax credit designation makes for an organization. Mercy and Truth also received the credits in 2015 to renovate our KCK facility. After this renovation, our patient counts increased over 1,300% from the prior year.

To learn more specifically about how Mercy and Truth will use the tax credits, visit our website: www.mercyandtruth.com.

To learn more about the Kansas program and how to apply, visit the Kansas Department of Commerce’s website.

By Anne F. Rauth, MBA on December 18, 2017
Marketing and Development Director
Mercy and Truth Medical Missions

We are so excited for our friends at Kenyan Kids Foundation and their new venture in the Transcend Running Academy!

Kenyan Kids Foundation (KKF) works to ensure all children in Kenya have the right to education. Each year KKF provides necessary scholarships to students who would otherwise be unable to attend secondary school. Mercy and Truth has partnered with KKF for the past three year, working together to provide healthcare to their community in Kitale, Kenya.

KKF’s founder, Wesley Korir’s story of has recently been documented in the film Transcend (www.TheFilmTranscend.com). “Transcend is the story of the elusive spiritual energy that is somehow forged in the intense rigor of long-distance running, an energy Wesley Korir is using to transform the nation that has done more than any other to change the face of the marathon.” In partnership with Transcend, KKF will be opening the Transcend Running Academy next year, a school where promising young Kenyan Runners will be given scholarships and opportunity to excel in athletics, academics and in leadership.
 

Purchase your copy of the film Transcend today!  25% of ALL proceeds this week only goes to supporting the Transcend Running Academy (www.TranscendRunningAcademy.com). The film is available on iTunes or at www.TheFilmTranscend.com

Congratulations Kenyan Kids Foundation!!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Cathy Gordon’s sister Elizabeth McGee. Elizabeth died in a plane crash on Tuesday Nov 10th 2015 . She is survived by 9 children. For those of you who have been around Mercy and Truth for a while, you know that Elizabeth was a strong supporter of Mercy and Truth in both time and treasure since the beginning of our organization. She served as president of Board, member of the board, She went on several MTMM mission trips to East Africa and even spoke some Swahili to show her passion for the people of Kenya. Most recently, Elizabeth went on a scout trip to Mauritania with Cathy Gordon and Rebekah McClure to help restart MTMM work in that country. Elizabeth was a Veterinary Doctor and loved flying air planes.  
 
Please join me in remembering Elizabeth and celebrating her life’s contributions to the ministry of Mercy and Truth. Please pray for the Gordons as they grieve their loss. Pray for Elizabeth’s family especially her 9 children that God may comfort them during this difficult time.

One week ago today Mercy and Truth, in partnership with Fox 4 News’ Sarah J Clark and Commucare’s founder Dr. Florence Moffor, hosted a karaoke fundraising event benefiting our work in Tanzania, East Africa. A night that brought fun, laughter, and a community spirit also helped raise awareness and financial support for 
Nyamuswa, Tanzania. 

Tanzania is a country plagued with health disparities and limited resources to fight easily preventable diseases. The World Health Organization reports that 54 of every 1000 children born in Tanzania will die before reaching the age of 5. To combat these issues, Mercy and Truth has partnered with Zinduka Development Intiatives Forum (ZDIF), a Tanzanian non-profit organization. Zinduka provides services to communities in Nyamuswa including educational support and microfinancing assistance. Zinduka has also been instrumental in establishing the Malaika Dispensary, a clinic that serves over 70,000 patients.

            With support from Zinduka founder Maximillian Madoro and thanks to our friends at Sunset Grill and Kansas City’s own entertainer DebbyZ, the stage was set for our first Celebrity Karaoke Fundraising event. Delicious cuisine, wonderful entertainment, prize drawings, and of course live karaoke by some of our local celebrity favorites proved to be the perfect combination for an evening filled with fun and laughter.

Thanks to all of our supporters for ensuring the success of our event! To learn more about our work and how you can contribute to our efforts in Tanzania visit www.mercyandtruth.com/tanzania.

Mercy and Truth’s international field director, along with New Birth Company’s co-owner, Cathy Gordon, and Dr. Elizabeth McGhee recently traveled to West Africa to reconnect with community members, assess health needs, and provide medical supplies to birth attendants.
 
Cathy Gordon led the daring three across the West African terrain, trekking by air, land, and sea to return to a community Mercy and Truth served for nearly ten years. Cathy and Dr. McGhee first began traveling with Mercy and Truth to the West African nation in 2000 and actively worked alongside other medical professionals until 2010 when MTMM’s presence was encumbered. An intriguing culture rooted in Islamic practice with vast amounts of health needs was the draw for these veteran world travelers. “It is a challenging place to work, not like any other place I have been before.” stated Cathy as she described her time in West Africa. Dedicated to serving communities, Mercy and Truth honored their commitment by establishing roots and purchasing a building (“Le Maison Bleu”) in 2006. “Le Maison Bleu” has housed medical teams and partnering families over the years. Although our physical presence in West Africa has been hindered in recent years, Mercy and Truth has remained hopeful to return once again.

This August, the door was opened for MTMM to return to “Le Maison Bleu”, and in the purest form of adventure these three women delved into the culture of the African country and re-explored the nation MTMM called home for so long. “We are committed to increasing our presence in West Africa, yet again, to promote health in communities with limited access to health care resources." stated Rebekah McClure, MTMM.

If you are interested in supporting our efforts in West Africa please visit our give page at www.mercyandtruth.com/give.

(A special thank you to Les Amis de Naissance and The Stevens-Gordon Family Foundation Fund)

Thanks to Perception Funding for assisting us in creating a new look to our website!

Feel free to check out all our services on our new site including:
Our Local Clinics
International Outreaches
Service/Volunteer Opportunities

www.mercyandtruth.com