Rietema walks through 'open door' to serve on Promise CHC board

SIOUX CENTER � Serving on the Promise Community Health Center Board of Directors wasn�t even on Lynn Rietema�s radar when she was approached by executive director Nancy Dykstra earlier this year about considering the role.

In fact, when she saw that call come in from Promise, she thought it was a outreach staff member calling to ask if she could provide a patient a ride to the health center � as she often has done as a volunteer.

But she decided to accept the invitation to serve in a new capacity as a board member.

Lynn Rietema has begun serving on
Promise Community Health Center's
Board of Directors. She has a passion for
helping people and reaching out to
newcomers in the community.

�To be quite truthful, sometimes I don�t have words to explain why I�m on this path,� Rietema said. �I�ve been walking through doors that have opened for me in the last few years on pure faith � basically following my heart, which sounds crazy and not very logical, but it is what it is. I think with my head and lead with my heart. I saw this as another door opening for me, so I should walk through to see what was on the other side.�

Rietema�s initial connection with Promise occurred in fall 2013 when she became the legal guardian of Jose Torres when he was in high school. He was a patient at Promise, so she brought him to appointments there.

And her volunteer involvement with Promise has grown since then.

Rietema � who also serves on the Center for Assistance, Service and Advocacy (CASA) of Sioux County board � has given patients rides to appointments at Promise and has brought community newcomers who need medical, dental or other needs met into the health center. She has worked closely with the Promise staff in getting appointments scheduled and helping to get people signed up for insurance coverage.

�I try to be actively involved in the community, and there are great needs that exist,� she said. �Most days, I fail miserably at fulfilling all the needs but work diligently on the ones that are put in my path. Some days, I am frustrated and impatient because I can�t do everything I dream of doing. I believe in looking into people, not just at them, because, essentially, we all grew up differently � culturally and geographically � and aren�t we all immigrants of some type? We can learn so much from each other, and I believe Promise Community Health Center believes the same thing. I have experienced it.�

Here are a few of Rietema�s reflections about serving as a new Promise board member:

Q: What do you hope you can bring to your role as a board member?

A: I will be the first to tell you that I do not have much experience in the role as a board member. Quite honestly, it scares me and makes me nervous. I feel I have so much to learn. I hope that my passion and my heart for people, especially those who may not look like me or feel as though they don�t belong in the community will suffice and overcome any and all shortcomings I may have in the area of knowledge of fiscal reports or quality assurance because I, too, have felt as if I didn�t belong and have somewhat of a sense what that feels like. My heart naturally reaches out to the stranger in the hopes of making them feel welcome, and I hope I can bring that to the board.

Q: How might your background help you in this role?

A: My background lies in health care when I practiced physical therapy; therefore, I have a basic knowledge of the health-care system. Although much has changed and evolved since my days in a clinic setting, the care and treatment of patients and people as a whole and the area of service to the community and surrounding area in which we live, however, should never change.

Q: Why do you think Promise is important to the greater community and region?

A: I think Promise is vitally important to the community and region, most importantly, because of their service to a growing community in need of health care that is affordable and attainable to each and every person who walks through their door. I have personally sat with patients, new and existing, and have been in awe with the respect and time the staff at Promise has given to anyone who has sat across from them trying to meet their needs however they can. To witness that, as a stranger coming through the door, not knowing anyone there or even where to begin or what questions to ask, literally gave me hope and made me realize that Promise really does care for the needs of others.

Q: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

A: I don�t know what lies ahead for me on this journey, but I am proud to tell people I am on the board of Promise, and I will work hard at whatever is put in front of me. Advocacy is my passion and where my heart lies, but if I must learn fiscal reports, I will. Thank you for reaching out to me to serve on the board. I�m happy I walked through this door.

Promise Community Health Center of Sioux Center is the only Federally Qualified Health Center in the far northwest corner of Iowa. Promise provides medical, prenatal, dental, vision and behavioral health services. To learn more, visit www.promisechc.org and watch this video. To read more Promise news, visit promisechcnews.blogspot.com.

MORE ABOUT LYNN:

Lynn Rietema and her husband, Bob, live in Sioux Center. Their children are Michael and Jamie Horowitz of Winston-Salem, NC; Caleb and Jill Graff of Washington, D.C.; Jose Torres, who is in college; and John Rietema, who is graduating from Sioux Center High School. They also have two grandchildren, Cora and Cecelia Horowitz. Rietema loves being active by running, weightlifting and participating in Crossfit, and she enjoys reading and spending days in the summer on a boat in the Iowa Great Lakes. She grew up in Kanawha, IA.