2020 Advocacy Awards
The Crescent Community Health Center Advocacy Awards are given annually to individuals who are dedicated community stakeholders, board members, patients or others who have impacted the work of Crescent and enabled our progress toward fulfilling our vision, quality care for all, resulting in a healthy community. This year's awardees include Mary Rose Corrigan, Catherine Dunn, BVM, Art Roche and Nancy Van Milligen.
“We can't express enough gratitude to these individuals for the profound impact they have made on Crescent and the healthcare landscape of our community,” said Gary Collins, CEO. “Without advocates, community health centers would not have grown over the past 55 years to serve more than 30 million Americans annually across the country. Additionally, with supporters like our awardees, community health centers have become substantial economic drivers with a $35.5 million annual economic impact in Iowa alone.”
Read below for more information on each awardee:
In 2006, Nancy Van Milligen and the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque launched a bold new idea called Envision 2010 in 2006. Envision…ten community projects by 2010. With 2,300 ideas submitted they narrowed it down to 10 with a number one...the need for a community health center. It was Nancy’s skill of rallying the community, the city and supporters to make the first of the 10 projects a success with the opening of Crescent in 2006.
Nancy reached out and built a board of directors to include Catherine Dunn, BVM, the first board chair who used her influence at the state and national level to incorporate Tri-State Community Health Center, later renamed Crescent Community Health Center. Along with Nancy and Catherine, the team was rounded out with Mary Rose Corrigan who, with her experience in public health, built the operations of Crescent. Mary Rose Corrigan served for more than 10 years as the president of the board of the directors. Under her leadership Crescent grew to serving over 6,000 patients in 2019.
Since 2006, they have never stopped leading, supporting and promoting the exponential growth of Crescent.
Art Roche spent his career in healthcare as the Community Ministry Officer at Mercy Medical Center. It was through a needs assessment in 2015 that identified the Marshallese Community as an underserved population in need of healthcare, specifically to address diabetes. In looking for a partner, Crescent was a perfect choice and he established the Dubuque Pacific Islander Health Project addressing this heartbreaking story and the barriers many faced in getting quality affordable care. Art has served as chair of the Dubuque Pacific Islander Health Project Advisory Group and continues to reach out for support, telling their story and removing barriers so they can live healthy productive lives.
