“We’re having a 1965 theme. I want people to dig out their bell bottoms and love beads,” said Joan Quigley, president and CEO of the North Hudson Community Action Corporation (NHCAC), last week.
She was talking about an upcoming fundraising event to mark the golden anniversary of NHCAC, founded 50 years ago in a storefront in Union City.
The organization has expanded over the years to become a federally funded agency with an annual budget of $48 million, covering most of Hudson County and parts of Bergen and Passaic.
NHCAC offers a vast array of programs including employment counseling and job-finding services, alcohol and substance abuse programs, and immigration and naturalization support, including document translation and help with filing taxes.
Their WIC (women/infant/children) program provides food vouchers and nutritional assistance to more than 12,000 low income pregnant women and young mothers, and Head Start programs in five locations serve children up to age 5.
Also available are senior services, including Project SHAPE, offering advice and assistance in accessing benefits and managing health and social problems, and a residential maintenance program providing free home repairs to residents over 60.
Veterans at risk of homelessness are eligible for special programs and in December 2013 the NHCAC opened a Home for Heroes in Union City to provide permanent housing for 18 vets.
“The biggest part [of NHCAC] is our federally qualified health centers,” explained President and CEO Joan M. Quigley. Currently they operate in 11 locations, with a 12th planned to open in Harrison this summer.
“We accept all kinds of insurance, including Medicaid and Medicare. But the largest percentage of patients have no insurance at all, chiefly because they are undocumented, and in this area that’s a big part of the population. We are paid by the federal government for taking care of those people. It’s vitally essential that they get good health care and they get their vaccinations.”
Anyone is eligible to make an appointment through the website (nhcac.org) or walk in and receive treatment.
“We can provide a full range of primary care,” said Quigley. “We don’t do surgery and sophisticated services like oncology and orthopedics. We do family care, pediatrics, mental health, dentistry, women’s health, and we’re starting a new adolescence program. Just about anything that doesn’t require hospitalization.”
Soldiers in the war on poverty
“If you remember from your history books, 1965 was the start of the war on poverty, and that was when President Lyndon Johnson said he would put zillions of dollars into anti-poverty,” said Quigley.
It was as part of this nationwide initiative that the NHCAC was founded – then called a CAA, or Community Action Agency.
“Basically there were a lot of phone calls coming into the mayors offices and it was decided that it would be nice to have a central location where social service inquiries could be filtered through,” recalled Rosemary Lavagnino, Weehawken councilwoman and director of Community Action Programs (CAP) for NHCAC.
“It was limited to the most basic type of social service inquiries,” said Lavagnino. “Homeless and senior inquiries. Before you knew it we were having women coming in pregnant. We would filter them to various hospitals. And then after the children were born they need day care, so we decided to expand our services and include other social services. And from that it was decided we should provide our own health services. So we started our first [health care] site in West New York at 5301 Broadway.”
The agency was founded by seven municipalities: North Bergen, West New York, Weehawken, Union City, Guttenberg, Secaucus, and Kearny.
“Slowly but surely over the years added more social services,” said Lavagnino. “Community action agencies exist for the needs of the community in which you serve.”
The size of that community expanded on July 31, 2008, when the NHCAC formed an affiliation with the Hackensack University Medical Center. “They had a health center site but it wasn’t working for them,” said Lavagnino. “They aren’t as skilled at working with this population as we are.”
So NHCAC took over running the site in a mutually beneficial move. “It’s great to have these alliances because with that comes other services that they can provide us that without hospitals we wouldn’t have,” said Lavagnino. “It’s important to provide basic care but also be able to follow up with specialty care.”
In addition to Hackensack, NHCAC took over running the primary care clinic at Englewood Hospital. From about six health centers in 2006 they have expanded to the current 11 and continue to grow.
Help needed
“One of our goals is to integrate a little more,” said Quigley. With 22 facilities in operation, including the health centers and other social services, there’s a disconnect between the many services available to clients and patients.
“I want everybody who comes into a health care center to be asked if they want help with schooling or finding a job,” she said. “I want everybody in social services to ask how you’re feeling.”
The advent of the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” has impacted the NHCAC in several ways. “It’s helped and hurt us,” said Quigley. “More of the people that became enrolled were eligible for Medicaid than we expected, and we get a little more [money] for Medicaid than charity care.”
However, “Once people get private insurance they think now they can go to a private doctor,” she continued. “We’ve lost 2 to 3 percent. But we’ve found in the past few months that they’re coming back, and saying they like it better here.”
The health centers receive reimbursement for the care they provide through federal and state health insurance programs, and Head Start and WIC funding is provided by the federal government. The social services programs, however, are all dependent on private and public grants and donations.
The NHCAC holds fundraisers throughout the year to keep their operations active. Upcoming on May 7 is their second annual wine-tasting party at the Hackensack Country Club. On July 27 the Michael A. Leggiero Memorial Golf Outing takes place at the Galloping Hill Golf Club.
And then on Sept. 24 it’s time for that Golden Anniversary Gala with the 1965 theme. Start getting your hippie threads ready.
For information on contributing to the NHCAC or to learn more about the services they provide, call 201-210-0100 or visit www.nhcac.org.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.