Dental Coordinator

Hello
Please let me introduce myself. I am Michelle Retter, the new dental coordinator for His Hands Ministries. I am so excited to be a part of this ministry and use my skills as a dental hygienist. I have been a hygienist for almost 30 years and have mostly worked part time. I currently work for Dr. Tim Michels on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and will be at His Hands on Tuesdays and Thursdays and some Friday afternoons.

I am married to Mark Retter and have 3 children--Ashley Parham (27), Brad Miller (24), and Dylan Miller (14). My daughter is married and lives in Marion. Brad lives in Des Moines, and Dylan is still at home.

I have been busy working on finding volunteer dentists and have a handful who are interested in helping out. We are waiting for the final touches to the units and are getting close to ordering all our supplies. Please pray that all the final details will fall into place. There is such need for this service as the medical clinic gets at least 2 calls a week with people who have tooth pain and infections.

I will update this to let you all know our progress and opening date.

God's Abundance!

Hello all,

Just another quick note to share that God has been gracious to us this year! We have had a lot going on - the capital campaign to move us into our new building, our actual move in August 2011, my leaving on maternity leave during November and December. In all of that, we have been simply trusting that God would take care of us financially.

And He has!

So far, end-of-year donations have added up to almost $70,000 - that's almost half of what we budgeted! I feel like these funds have already been spent - we have a new ministry (dental) to support, another staff person (the Dental Coordinator), more of the building to renovate, and so many projects to tackle. What a blessing!

Continue to pray for God's guidance and we seek out His paths for this ministry.

Blessings,

Sharon Patten
Executive Director

Dental at His Hands: Soon to be a reality!

Hello friends,

We've been talking for months now about adding dentistry to the list of services we can offer our patients, and I am so pleased to share that that will soon be a reality! Because of gifts from our donors and Physicians Clinic of Iowa, we were able to begin ordering dental equipment and furniture in early fall. Since then, we have hired a Dental Coordinator to oversee the new service and manage the volunteers. Above is a picture of the dental room so far.

As with our other ministries at His Hands, our Dental Clinic will be staffed entirely by volunteers. We are actively seeking dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants who can volunteer their time to make a difference. Also, we will need receptionists and prayer supporters at these clinics, and administrative volunteers to help with collecting data. There is a place for everyone!

We will try to update this blog often to keep everyone in the loop. God has been so good to us - and we like to share it!

Blessings,

Sharon Patten
Executive Director

Ready for Dental???

Apparently God is!

This afternoon, Cyndi and I had an amazing meeting with our Dental Committee and a representative from Patterson Dental. God is certainly blessing this endeavor! Local offices are donating all the cabinetry (which, if you think about the cabinets in YOUR dental office, is pretty specialized) and a digital Panoramic x-ray machine. There is still a lot to get - we need two dental chairs, sterilization equipment, and all the dental tools - but, if everything goes as planned, our dental setup might be complete by August.

Wow!

Dental is such a big need our community, and we are thrilled that God is allowing us to offer this service much sooner than we had planned. However, there is A LOT involved in offering dental, and we need to be strategic as we enter into this new ministry. Please pray for us:

• that we continue to keep God at the helm of this process;
• that we find excited and committed volunteers to help start up this new ministry;
• that we spend the necessary time in planning for the nuts and bolts of offering dental services (it's more than just gathering equipment!);
• that God shows us where to find solid and continuous funding streams to meet our dental expenses;
• that we find the right balance of staff and volunteer time so that all our ministries can function at optimal levels.

Have a great week!

Gazette Article

Check out the article about His Hands that ran in the Cedar Rapids Gazette this morning:

http://easterniowahealth.com/2011/05/09/volunteers-remodeling-building-for-his-hands-free-medical-clinic/

Pretty great!!

Good Friday Prayer Breakfast

Just wanted to send quick shout out that His Hands received almost $3300 from the Good Friday Prayer Breakfast last Friday! Those funds will definitely be put to good use! What a great and inspiring event - I highly recommend that people attend next year if they can.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the breakfast - Berlinda, Mike, Grant and Trudy, Marion, Jeanette, Amber, and Charles. (6:00am came EARLY, didn't it?!)

Cabinets!

Several months ago, we had been put in touch with Sheryl Konen, director of Kirkwood's Interior Design program. Sheryl's summer Interior Design class will be helping us with the interior design for the new clinic. For the last month or so, Sheryl has been meeting with us and helping us get our proverbial ducks in a row. Sheryl has been an amazing help to us - God truly brought her to us when we needed her!

Recently, Sheryl connected us with Dave Hausmann, Kitchen and Bath Manager at The Ar-Jay Center in Cedar Rapids. Cyndi Ziegler (Clinic Director), Darrell Sanford (Board Member), and I met with Dave and Bill Skelton (an Ar-Jay employee) last week, and they are completely on board with helping us out with cabinetry! They understand that to treat our patients with the dignity they deserve, we not only offer them quality healthcare but also a comfortable and professional clinical environment. They want to help us make the environment the best it can be. With Ar-Jay's assistance, we will be able to put in new cabinetry and include some pieces custom-built for our exam rooms and pharmacy.

Thank you, Ar-Jay!

I am amazed at the work God has been doing with this remodel. There have been so many areas for things to go wrong, but God is proving Himself to be the Master Contractor.

Best,

Sharon (Executive Director)