CHI - St. Joseph's Health - MN

CHI St. Joseph's Health Community Health is expanding The Fostering Actions to Help Earnings and Responsibilities (FATHER) Project to serve fathers and families in the Walker area. Since launching in 2011, The FATHER Project—a program focused on helping fathers learn healthy parenting skills and behaviors in order to provide emotional and financial support for their children—has touched the lives of hundreds of dads in the Park Rapids area. Led by CHI St. Joseph's Health Community Health FATHER Project Coordinator, Joe Johnson, The FATHER Project has received widespread support from local organizations and community members and has earned numerous distinguished awards for its phenomenal contributions and strong commitment to the Park Rapids community. EXPANDING SUPPORT After two years of discussion and planning, CHI St. Joseph's Health Community Health launched a third The FATHER Project site, this one in Walker, MN, in March 2017. "In the six years we've been serving fathers in the area, we've received abounding support and countless calls from dads who want to be part of The FATHER Project, particularly from fathers in the Walker area," Johnson says. "The community really wants us here, and we The FATHER Project: Changing Lives in Walker are beyond blessed to be able to bring The FATHER Project to Walker dads and families." The FATHER Project in Walker has already received financial support from a local organization, Bank Forward of Walker. "When Bank Forward heard we were bringing The FATHER Project to Walker, they immediately expressed a desire to donate to the project and gifted our program with $1,000 for its expansion," Johnson says. "We are very grateful for generous donations like these from the community that help us sustain this life-changing project." The FATHER Project's Walker group is led by Matt Zimmerman, a long-standing leader in The FATHER Project's Park Rapids group, who will facilitate meetings on Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Walker. Matt, a husband and a father of three teenage daughters, became part of The FATHER Project in early 2015. "The FATHER Project is a space for dads— single or married—to discuss different things going on in their lives and lean on each other for support and to develop healthy parenting and communication tools and skills so they can be the best dads, co-parents, and spouses they can be," Zimmerman says. "This program and brotherhood has changed my life, and I look forward to welcoming new fathers to our group." To support The FATHER Project or to sign up, call 218.255.2063. Medical Staff Dentists James Matthiae, DDS – CHISJH Robert Mork, DDS – CHISJH Jesse Nease, DDS – CHISJH Lindsey Tischer, DT – CHISJH Emergency Medicine Jane Churchill, MD – CHISJH Larry Kobriger, MD – CHISJH Todd Officer, MD – CHISJH ENT, Otolaryngology Alan Bruns, MD – EH David Tsen, MD – EH Family Medicine David Benson, MD – EH Jason Davis, PA-C – EH Marnie Davis, PA-C – EH Beth Hirt, PA-C – EH Sriveer Kaasam, MD – EH Rae Keashly, MD – EH Kavya Koppula, MD – EH Thomas Rollie, MD – EH Gregory Sperle, MD – EH Michele Thieman, MD – EH General Surgery Brian Brattlof, MD – EH Brenda Norby, PA-C – EH Daniel Smith, MD – EH Robert Wroblewski, MD – EH Hospitalists Bonnie Conner, FNP – CHISJH Nathan Harris, MD – CHISJH John Lageson, MD – CHISJH Internal Medicine Vern Erickson, MD – EMC Larry Leadbetter, MD, FACP, PhD – EH Eric Mjelde, PA-C – EH Mary Nelson, CNP – EH Seth Roiko, FNP – EH Obstetrics Heather Foresman, CNM, CNP – EH Guillermo Marroquin, MD-EH Charlotte Rollie, CNM, CNP – EH Ophthalmology Ashley Lundin, MD – SH Orthopedics Francis Cormier, MD – EH Linda Lohnes, CNP – EH Sean McDonald, PA-C – EH Brennen Smith, DO – CHISJH Pediatrics RaNae Doll, MD – EH Podiatry Jared Aelony, DPM – EH Rheumatology Joseph Sleckman, MD – EH CHISJH – CHI St. Joseph's Health EH – Essentia Health EMC – Erickson Medical Clini c SH – Sanford Health CHI St. Joseph's Health | www.CHISJH.org 10

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