Local group heading to White House
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By ROD STETZER
rod.stetzer@lee.net
Sunday, October 19, 2008 9:05 AM CDT
Next Wednesday will be the first time Perry Polnaszek of Chippewa Falls will be in the White House.
But he’s going there to work, not visit.
Former Chippewa Falls Mayor Dan Hedrington and Luther Midelfort–Mayo Health System physician Dr. Lane Wuldom will accompany Polnaszek and represent Touched Twice United.
The White House office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is holding a roundtable on innovative programs to provide health care in communities. Only 100 people have been invited to participate in the conference in the Eisenhower Room of the White House.
“We’re just delighted to be a part of this,” said Polnaszek, the founder and executive director of Twice Touched. Hedrington and Wuldom are members of the organization’s board of directors.
Hedrington found out Tuesday he was going. “The whole thing is amazing,” he said on Friday.
The White House sought out the group, which is in its 12th year. Polnaszek said the agency is looking on the horizon to see who is doing as much with as little as possible.
“There’s a growing need. The country is in a pickle,” he said.
Twice Touched is known locally for free clinics, the latest which will be Nov. 1 at Landmark Christian Church in Lake Hallie. The clinics offer eyeglasses, medical exams, chiropractic services, along with haircuts, oil changes and clothing. All of the items are free to anyone needing them.
The idea has been taken another step further in Lawrence, Mass., north of Boston. Polnaszek said churches there stopped competing with each other and began working with the city. Every month the churches participate in a community event.
“That model won the 2008 Mayoral Task Force Award,” Polnaszek said.
He suspects the success the program has found in Lawrence led to the Chippewa Falls group being invited to the White House conference.
And the group is also one of 50 in the nation invited to participate in a conference by the National Institute of Health next month.
Hedrington, who served as mayor for 3 1/2 years until stepping down earlier this year, said he has three objectives in Wednesday’s White House meeting. The first is listening to and learning the intentions of the federal government.
The second is offering what the local group has done and how it can be applied nationally.
The third, he said, is to clearly state the effects of the existing health care system on normal American towns. It’s an opportunity to voice real-life concerns, he said.
“This has God written all over it,” he said about a local organization being chosen to participate.
“I see this as something as an amazing opportunity and one heck of an honor.”
Polnaszek said it’s been suggested, but not promised, that President Bush will attend.
He said it’s a privilege to be asked to share the experience of Twice Touched.
“We do love our country and we do want to help.”
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