Our Vision
The mission of the Institute for Preventive Healthcare & Advocacy is to promote optimum health for all residents of Buncombe County and surrounding areas by addressing the social determinants of health and the inequities in access to affordable and preventive healthcare.
We envision a Buncombe County with increased access to affordable and equitable preventive healthcare that addresses the social determinants of health.
Our Initial Work
Granted 501c3 status for IFPHA in May 2020, founder Kathey Avery, RN, BSN, CN, was excited that IFPHA was shortly thereafter chosen along with about 30 organizations to carry out a statewide health initiative to address and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that was sickening and killing tens of thousands and pushing medical facilities and healthcare workers to their limits and beyond.
“We appreciate the confidence shown in our young nonprofit in that selection,” Avery noted, especially since IFPHA was the only organization from the western part of the state to be included.
The statewide initiative’s aim was to reduce the inequities and access to healthcare and vital resources that were being exacerbated by the pandemic. IFPHA’s team, led by Avery, as community nurse, worked tirelessly throughout the early months of the pandemic enlisting community health workers and training them to identify and connect underserved families with vital resources, including food, COVID-19 testing sites, unemployment offices, transportation resources and more.
To further widen its reach in WNC, IFPHA also connected to NCCARE360, the nation’s first statewide technology platform that coordinates the work of organizations addressing non-medical drivers of health, such as food, housing, transportation, and employment. And it utilized existing partnerships and pursued new ones, a process that it stepped up even further in summer 2022 and continues to this day.
“IFPHA and other organizations 'say' we serve WNC, or the region, but most have never visited any of the outlying counties,” Avery notes. “Considering where IFPHA is trying to go long-term, we don’t want to just make this statement. We want to truly connect.” A report of that 2022 regional outreach is available at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5949f2dd29fb490084f34ed91fcf783e
Work with those underserved communities continues: Asking them what they need and supplying it, whether smoking cessation classes to prevent evictions, cleaning when residents in senior living are unable to due to health conditions, providing transportation to doctors’ appointments, or making sure colonoscopy transportation is provided to aid in preventing preventable cancers. Again, Real Help in Real Time.
“We have been an ally to African American and Latino communities across Western Carolina, making daily calls, door to door home visits when needed, to ensure families have the resources, education, and support needed to navigate this pandemic.”
—— Kathey Avery, IFPHA Founder and CEO, 2020
What makes IFPHA unique?
With our vision of affordable and equitable preventive healthcare for everyone in our community, we knew that meant taking on the non-medical drivers of health such as food access and quality, stable, affordable housing, transportation and employment. We meet people where they are in their health and wellness journeys and overall circumstances and help them set and meet goals on how to get there.
Collective Action
In our first year, with good financial backing and support from our community health workers, like-minded people and community groups, we have been able to accomplish a good deal. We have no intention of slowing that pace, expanding and deepening our efforts as we go.
Real Help in Real Time
Key to our efforts is our approach of Real Help in Real Time, be that in getting needed medication from the pharmacy, a replacement for a damaged bed and bedding, counseling on how to quit smoking, or referrals and appointments with other organizations supplying a needed service. Our growing client database and pipeline into it allow us to get word out quickly about time-sensitive information such as COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites.
Community Engagement
We welcome community participation, volunteering and financial support as we continue to build and grow an ongoing healthy community for this generation and ones to come. We reach out to like-minded organizations to foster partnerships and expand reach. And we encourage clients to take an active role in understanding and managing their own health issues and in setting goals and making lifestyle changes to improve overall health and wellness.