This year, the C. W. Williams Community Health Center is celebrating 30 years of service. For the past three decades, the center has been an anchor in the community, providing quality and affordable health care to the most needy among us, including the homeless.

The center is marking this milestone anniversary with a benefit gala and celebration on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Westin Charlotte. The first Living & Giving Awards will be presented to individuals in the community who over the past three decades have given of their time, talents and resources.

“We want to honor the living,” said CEO Beverly Irby. “We will also pay special tribute to those that have gone on as well.” 

Living & Giving honorees include former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, Rep. Mel Watt, and the center’s first executive director, Thelma Council, among others.  

The night also will include a silent auction, dinner, dancing and a live performance by Sweet Dreams. Award-winning actress, humanitarian, and philanthropist Sheryl Lee Ralph will serve as guest of honor.

Irby, who was named CEO in May 2010, sat down recently with Qcitymetro.com to discuss her vision for the center and what she believes to be the greatest health challenges facing the minority community. 

Qcitymetro: You have a pretty diverse professional background, which includes banking, corporate finance, marketing, teaching and, of course, health care administration. What made you decide that being CEO of the C.W. Williams Community Health Center was the right fit for you?

Beverly Irby: It wasn’t really all about me… One day I had an “aha moment” where I just said, “You know; I really am interested in doing something where I feel like I am helping people.” I had two real passions — one for education and the other for health… I just knew that I always wanted to be out in the community advocating for people who did not have a voice and sharing the story that you can improve your health…. It doesn’t always have to be something major. Just walking a little more every day can make a difference. You would be surprised that if you changed just a small amount of what you do towards better health, that you will feel better…

When this opportunity came about… it was not without a lot of thought. I really liked working at the organization that I working was with. I just thought that it was an opportunity to singly touch the population I serve. I love talking to the patients. 

What is your vision for the center?

Personally, my vision for the future of the center is to make sure that we create and become the health care home for the patients that don’t have any type of health care. When you look at the growing number of the uninsured, the growing number of people who are in between jobs that previously had health insurance and now they don’t, or the working poor that have two and three jobs but are still piecing it together without any benefits — we can be that safety net provider.

My vision is that we continue to collaborate with non-traditional partnerships. I would like to create more faith-based partnerships with the center and work more with the schools. We do these things, but I would like to increase and expand these relationships. I would also like to collaborate more with the private sector. A lot of the people who own small businesses and run their own companies can’t provide benefits for their employees. So, how can we help serve and help take care of them through a partnership with corporate America?

Our vision for the center is: We want you to be healthy. When we say "you,” we say you as a community…. We have chronic disease in our population. Particularly in the minority community, there is disproportional morbidity rate for chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, HIV. Diabetes is almost epidemic…. On average, about 50 percent of the adults that we see are diabetic…. My goal is to really increase the preventative services that are happening here and not just treating the sick. But to help our patients learn how to take care of themselves and adopt wellness principles, like exercising, eating right and not smoking. 

You mentioned diabetes. November is American Diabetes Month. What would you say is key for prevention?

We have two types of diabetes: Type I and Type II. Obviously, we do see an adult population with an onset of Type II diabetes for a variety of risks factors, including being overweight, lack of exercise and not eating a proper diet that is balanced. Increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables is a very important way to make sure that a person gets the nutrients they need.

Does the center ever turn away anyone due to an inability to pay for services?

We cannot do that. We are a federally qualified health center (FQHC). The FQHC’s around the country began as a movement in the late ’60s. The mission is to provide quality health care to the people who could least afford it. We only get about 17 percent of our funding from the federal government for our basic administrative costs…. We cannot turn anyone away because of their inability to pay. That’s why we are constantly out telling our story and trying to raise money to continue serving children, women and the homeless.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

The most challenging aspect of this job is the uncertainty of what’s going to happen with all of this health reform. It’s murky waters right now. The federal government and local governments are trying to figure out a way to meet the needs, which are increasing, while the resources are dwindling. Quite frankly, nonprofits are all basically going after the same pot of money. So, how do we get people who are not used to giving, even small amounts to our cause, to understand that even the smallest gift can make a difference? For instance, we have a sliding scale that we use to evaluate our families based on their income if they do not have insurance. A $50 night out at dinner can cover the co-pay for three patients at our center,

What do you see as the biggest health challenge in minority communities?

With the browning of America, statistics are showing that we need to become more culturally competent practitioners. We have to understand the diverse backgrounds that we have in our community so that we can effectively serve them. How do you meet the needs of the minority population? You have to understand where they are coming from. We have to meet people where they are. Some are living in food deserts where they don’t have access to certain grocery stores with fresh fruits and vegetables. How can we help you? We can do things like Reggie Singleton and his guys at The Males Place, who started a community garden. We have to empower people…. Also, we have to realize that there are some people that will never decide that they want to change their behavior. So, how do you manage them? When they are coming to the doctor, they want a quick fix because they are in pain. We have to find a way to manage them and say: “You have a responsibility to your health.”

The message to us as minorities, as people who didn’t always — in some regards — have access to insurance, is that now that you do, what are you going to do? So many of us have insurance and never go to the doctor on a regular basis. We are not compliant in what we are supposed to do…. We have to find a way to help patients in the communities we serve to value health as a commodity. It’s a tangible thing — if you are not healthy, you can’t go to work, you can’t pay taxes and then the whole community suffers.

For more information, call 704-391-0819 or visit www.cwwilliams.org.

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