Clinic Benefits From $50K Grant, Readies For Annual Gala

After just a little more than two years of operating out of donated office space in town municipal buildings, volunteers who staff and manage the town’s no-cost public health clinic are rapidly accelerating their efforts to create a free standing location of their very own.

The initiative to construct a free standing headquarters for Kevin’s Community Center recently received a massive boost thanks to a $50,000 grant from the West Hartford based Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation Inc.

Representatives from the clinic are looking forward to matching that windfall with other donations and funds that will be raised during the center’s gala set for October 2. The 2nd Annual Fundraising Gala, “On The Red Carpet” will be held at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury with proceeds earmarked specifically to support the clinic’s capital campaign “Seeds For The Future.”

This special fundraising event will provide an opportunity for individuals, corporations, businesses, and foundations to support and sponsor the important work of Kevin’s Community Center, which was named in memory of Dr Z. Michael Taweh’s young son who lost his life in a tragic accident several years ago. That bar has been raised significantly since the Hoffman Foundation’s generous donation that was conveyed to Dr Taweh in July.

 “Our Capital Campaign fundraising goal $1.5 million, so we have some distance to go,” Dr Taweh said. “Our long-term goal is to build an independent facility to increase our capacity, to see more patients, and to establish a comprehensive health care facility that will include educational programs, professional dialogue, and community outreach and support to serve the health care needs of people in the area who cannot afford such care.”

Since August of 2003 when the clinic originally opened at the Canaan House at Fairfield Hills, Kevin’s has seen nearly 600 new patients and referred dozens more who qualify for state subsidized health care programs like Medicaid and the HUSKY initiative your children and teens.

While that clinic and the center’s new offices in the municipal suite at the Kendro facility on Peck’s Lane have remained extremely busy just handling the flow of new and returning patients, Dr Taweh hopes to see Kevin’s become a precedent-setting health resource for the entire community, as well as a pilot program that other smaller communities can borrow from to establish their own similar public health clinics.

“Once we establish our own facility, KCC will provide more comprehensive services to heal the physical body, educate the mind, and nourish the soul and to improve and enrich the lives of those most in need in our community,” Dr Taweh said.

According to Dr Taweh, preliminary plans for the new facility include a modern clinical space to provide free medical services to uninsured and underinsured adults, a lending library to be used by the community as a resource center for health information and education, a nondenominational chapel to be used by patients, their families and the community as a place for meditation and personal enrichment and direction and an outreach support center.

The Hoffman grant will add to funds raised at last year’s gala, as well as other grants and donations including an annual $10,000 grant from the Visiting Nurse Association of Newtown.

Marion Barrak, president of the Hoffman Foundation, said her organization was impressed with the comprehensive nature of care provided by KCC, including caring for several town residents with advanced types of cancer, AIDS, and other illnesses requiring advanced levels of care.

“It really is an honor for the Hoffman Foundation to support this worthy cause,” Ms Barrak said. “The community of Newtown is certainly fortunate to have an organization like Kevin’s, and we can certainly see the level of impact that the clinic has made here so far.”

Businesses looking to support the cause may want to join with Platinum sponsors Newtown Savings Bank and Harborside Health Care Glen Hill, each donating $2,500 toward the annual gala. Individual tickets for the October 7 event are still available and the $100 donation to the nonprofit clinic are partially tax deductible.

The gala will spotlight honorees Dr Kevin Ehrlich of Housatonic Valley Radiological Associates, and Doug Magazu of the Danbury Office of Physicians Services, PC. Live entertainment will be provided by an a cappella do-wop group, The Retrotones. The group consists of several of Dr Taweh’s associates, Dr Richard Coopersmith, Dr Paul Ruggiero, Dr Don Teig, and Dr Lisa Conciatore.

Additional music and entertainment will be provided by Newtown Bee staffer and radio personality John Voket and the 99Dollar DJ Service. The gala will feature a live and silent auction stocked with dozens of donations including sports and entertainment memorabilia, gift certificates and tickets for sports and music events.

For tickets to the Kevin’s Community Center “On the Red Carpet” gala, call 364-1235 or visit the clinic during its operating hours Wednesdays from noon to 5 pm at the Kendro facility on Peck’s Lane.