CRITICAL RESOURCE: CCHSC works in many ways to help community, from birth to end of life

Skyler Hammons |, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·4 min read

Mar. 26—Since 1998, the Cherokee County Health Services Council has been a resource to the people of Tahlequah and surrounding counties.

CCHSC Executive Director Pamela Iron said the council, a quasi-intergovernmental agency, was founded by the Interlocal Act of Oklahoma in 1998.

"When CCHSC was originally formed — and you can kind of see this in the underwriting in a lot of stuff — there was a huge Hepatitis [A] outbreak in the very beginning," Deputy Administrator Rozlyn Locust said. "There were different organizations that were trying to figure out how to best manage that outbreak, and one of the things they had realized they weren't doing was communicating with one another. So when it came down to them having a coalition, an organization kind of centered on bridging that gap, that's what started CCHSC."

In the past six years, Iron said, the program has increased from four to 18 staff members.

"What's unique about this group is they have passion; they are willing to step out and help in many areas, they like each other and they work as a team," Iron said.

Locust said she describes the council as an undiscovered resource hub. CCHSC has several programs, each with a grant of forming a different program. Some of those include Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, AmeriCorp Volunteers In Service To America, 918 Senior, the CDC Control Foundation, chronic disease self-management education program, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration CCHSC First Responders Program, and more. These groups each help in different areas, such as K-12 students, elders, the recovery community, and more.

TSET Healthy Living Program Assistant Coordinator Lora Buechele said even when a program comes to a close with CCHSC, such as the HIV program, resources are still available through the council.

"Because we are primarily grant funded with the work we do, anytime one of our programs rolls off, we have a strong sustainability plan in place so our community can still receive the benefits we've been working toward," Buechele said.

Buechele said a common misconception about CCHSC is that the council only has resources for those in Cherokee County, when it also serves Delaware, Mayes, Rogers, Muskogee, and Adair counties.

"It's kind of like untapped resources that we're able to provide to the community because we know first hand what siloed information can do, and how that can hinder a community from growing," Locust said.

Emmie Sweet, a VISTA leader, said her program has members paired with nonprofits, who then work on grant writing, volunteer recruiting, research, etc. Jane Bevan, volunteer coordinator with Senior 918, said the program provides nonprofits and the community with volunteers who are 55 years old and older.

"They're going to start out here working with our programs and sites, and we're going to branch them out to other nonprofits," Bevan said.

Bevan said her program also helps push elders to be active in the community.

"A lot of times, seniors, when they hit retirement age, shelter themselves in homes and starts isolating, so this gets them out into the community. It helps with depression," Bevan said. "It even has them develop a sense of community. They have proved it even has helped to improve dementia."

Locust said CCHSC has a sister organization, the Rural Health Foundation, which is the nonprofit branch of the council. The council's programs have several educational and training programs available for individuals, such as the recent Narcan class at the Tahlequah Public Library. An upcoming event by CCHSC will be the Take Down Tobacco Day of Action, April 1 at Mission Park from 3:30-5 p.m.

The council has various programs and resources that help those at birth, and Buechele said it can also support people at the end of their lives.

"With TSET Healthy Living Program, we're working in childcare centers reaching babies as young as 6 weeks, working with tobacco succession with pregnant mothers, where you have Seniors 918 and our Chronic Disease Prevention Program working with [the aging population]. So our program really does reach the span across the life and in various places in life," Buechele said.

Get help

Those needing resources from CCHSC can either go to www.cherokeecountyhealthservicescouncil.org or to the office at 135 N. Muskogee Ave.