A Kairos Moment: A Movement to Transform Care for Caregivers
Oakland Interfaith Leaders Consultation
November 12, 2013
As Rev. J. Alfred Smith Jr., Senior Pastor of Allen Temple Baptist Church, described it the morning of November 12th was truly a kairos moment at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, CA, where over 60 faith and health leaders representing over 1,100 congregations in the Northern California area met for the Interfaith Leaders Consultation. The consultation focused on developing a model for partnership among interfaith and ethic communities, health systems and other stakeholders to support caregivers in their communities.
The morning sessions revolved around defining the challenges, frustrations, and barriers interfaith communities have when trying to provide sufficient care and support for family caregivers. A crowning moment occurred when this group of diverse interfaith leaders decided to form the Alameda County Caring Alliance (ACCA), an organization dedicated to closing the gap between faith communities and the healthcare sector. Bishop J.W. Macklin, Senior Pastor of Glad Tidings COGIC, a co-sponsor of the event, described the magic of partnership and collaboration with the following quote, “When we come to the table with mutual appreciation for each other, we can learn a great deal from each other. We’re going to build on this, and see some tangible results come out of our collaborative work.”
In the afternoon health systems leaders including but not limited to Kaiser Permanente, California HealthCare Foundation, Sharp, and Sutter Health were invited to the table to discuss a collaborative effort among the faith community and these providers. In the past, both have experienced frustrations working through these issues. This partnership hopes to capitalize on their different strengths to provide better support for the community.
C-TAC, Allen Temple Baptist Church, and Glad Tidings COGIC planned and co-sponsored the event. C-TAC would like to thank its co-sponsors, and send out a big thank you to Cynthia Carter Hill and her team at Allen Temple Baptist Church. Without her dedication and leadership this event would not have been such a success. C-TAC looks forward to continued collaboration with Allen Temple Baptist Church and Glad Tidings. We are excited to see how this model will help communities throughout the country. If you would like to learn more about the development process or you interested in bringing the model to your city please contact Jon Broyles at .
We invite you to visit the C-TAC Flickr page and check out more pictures of the event!
