More and more healthcare professionals are discovering the educational and netowrking opportunities at the Community Forum's monthly meetings.

April Community Forum Highlights   +  Resource Fair

More than 100 participants and 70 health care providers turned out April 3 for the First Annual Volunteer Information & Resource Fair organized by Saint Joseph's Hospital's Community Resources Forum.

The departure from the Community Forum's traditional, monthly format - where a handful of health care groups present information about their services - gave everyone a chance to display their services, hand out literature and network with each other, as well as members of the hospital's staff in the hospital's Russell Pavilion.

"I think this is awesome," said John, who works in Saint Joseph's emergency room. "There's a lot of different facets to what we do ... by getting these people together, it will help us build a team."

Bob and Jan Burnside, co-directors of the Suicide Prevention Intervention Network (SPIN), handed out information about SPIN's mission and services as they stood in front of their display, which included a quilt decorated with the faces of suicide victims. They were enthused by the opportunity to spread the message that suicide is preventable.

"It's going great, excellent," Jan said. "I don't know how many people we've seen - a lot."

In addition to passing out information, some organizations were recruiting volunteers.

"We're always looking for volunteers," said Kim Ann Wardlow, director of marketing for the Audio Information Network of Colorado, which serves visually impaired residents by broadcasting taped readings of print products such as The Denver Post.

"This is just a great venue to set up and recruit (volunteers)," Wardlow said. "Obviously, folks (here) are already interested in helping others."

Mary Lilley, a business coordinator for the in-home care assistance company, Right at Home, was representing her organization, but also served as a reference for how easy it is to donate blood through Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital's blood donation center, which Grannie Valorz, a blood donation recruiter, was staffing a booth for across the room.

Near the end of the two-hour event, Valorz said she'd had 14 volunteer donors sign up.

Terese Morse-Aguilar, a resource specialist for Gateway Battered Women's Shelter said the fair offered her a unique opportunity to put information in the hands of health care professionals who may know someone in need of Gateway's services.

In another environment, the women who need information about the shelter are ashamed to approach a booth advertising help, Morse-Aguilar said.

"All the people you don't normally talk to, you can wander around and talk to today," she added.  

As the morning came to a close, Director of Community Outreach Molly Markert looked out at all the fair's attendees.

"I'm very impressed," she said. "Very impressed."

Plans for next year's Volunteer Information & Resource Fair are already underway.