This entire effort is rooted in collaboration... and that is by design.

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First, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital's, local Mission Outreach for Community Health Advisors made a decision

           to spend community benefit dollars on a 'community grant writer' rather than distribute multiple small grants.

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Second, they began collaborating with local grantwriter, Paul Lindberg with Hat Creek Consulting. Together they designed

           the Collective Impact Health Specialist model of community grant writing.

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Third, together they reached out to the United Way-Columbia Gorge to serve as the fiscal manager.

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Fourth, they identified two criteria for the community to utilize the CIHS role for a project. 

                             ~ the project needs to address an issue identified in the Community Health Improvement Plan

                                      (a 45+ partner collaborative effort unto itself).

                              ~ the project needs to include at least two, preferably three community partners.

                                    This requirement essentially 'bakes' collaboration into the work.

 

The practical impact of this approach has been significant:

each of the almost 100 projects the CIHS model has supported have been

collaboratively designed and implemented; in other words, 100 distinct collaborative efforts. 

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The intangible outcome of this approach has been a Culture of Collaboration.

Collaboration is often the first step local partners think of when addressing a need, rather than the last. 

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