My Nonprofit Reviews
glen.chrism87
Review for Genesis Community Health, Inc., Garden City, ID, USA
Genesis is a very unique, highly innovative organization that generates positive social benefit in diverse ways. Beyond its flagship program (Garden City Community Clinic), a safety-net clinic staffed by volunteer physicians and managed by a RN, Genesis also has two other departments: The Volunteer Physicians Network (VPN) and Genesis International (GWMI). VPN works to link low-income patients in the greater Boise area with specialty physicians wiling to donate their time and GWMI helps facilitate community-driven healthcare projects in low income countries.
In my mind, the impact these latter programs have on their respective communities is under appreciated. Both seek to link important parts of their communities in ways that foster important synergies. Both greatly enhance the self-efficacy of the poor, by giving them the resources they need to obtain the care they deserve (VPN) and by building vital social capital in communities that directly leads to bottom-up development (GWMI). And, most importantly, both work toward sustainable solutions to poverty. The social impact of the sum of these outcomes is impossible to fully quantify, but it is innovative solutions like these that are integral to properly addressing poverty.
On a practical level, Genesis was a wonderful organization to volunteer with. The managerial staff is *very* competent and extremely passionate about their work. I was impressed by how efficiently and seamlessly the organization's different programs were managed on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, I believe the financial management of the organization is top-notch, which is not always the case with nonprofits.
I joined the team at Genesis hoping to learn more about nonprofit management; I left with a greater appreciation for the innovative ways an organization can impact the community--both locally and globally.
More Feedback
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
many different ways. I handled some data analysis for the organization, so I was able to ascertain the number of individuals that international healthcare efforts directly helped. But more importantly, I had the pleasure of learning about the number of individuals Genesis' international programs help *indirectly*. Because the organization scrupulously develops international projects in a way that incorporates a local perspective on community needs, international projects maximize impact.
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
more adequately define job descriptions of the key managerial staff. While the current fluidity is perhaps beneficial for the seamless integration of a range of different programs, I think there is an under-provision of human resources toward fundraising activities--particularly grant writing. A more crystalized partitioning of tasks might be beneficial in this regard.
