Community Resources
Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency to determine how it contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3-5 page report.
As you begin to prepare this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Nonprofit Organizations and Community Health activity. Complete this activity to gain insight into promoting equal opportunity and improving the quality of life in a community. The information gained from completing this activity will help you succeed with the assessment.
Sample Answer
Organization’s mission and vision contribution to public health and safety
The American Red Cross is a global organization well known for its participation in providing relief to the community that experiences and are victims of disasters such as disease outbreaks, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and fire outbreaks. The organization was founded in 1881 to assist communities and victims affected by World War 1, and since then, it has been assisting communities affected by various disasters in various regions of the world. The organization’s mission is to prevent and reduce human suffering when emergencies and natural disasters occur by organizing donors’ generosity and the power of volunteers. The vision of the American Red Cross is to turn compassion into action with the aim of ensuring that victims of disaster outbreaks all over the world and across the country can access care, shelter, and hope, all the communities are well equipped and prepared to handle disaster outbreaks, across the country every person has access to life-saving blood and blood products in times of need, and that in case of emergencies outbreaks there exists trained people in the community who can use their skills to save lives (American Red Cross, 2021).
Public health is primarily concerned with promoting the well-being and health of the communities by promoting the adoption of healthy lifestyles, preventing, and responding to outbreaks such as infectious diseases, and preventing injuries. The government is primarily responsible for providing public health services. However, organizations such as the American Red Cross supplement the efforts of the government in providing public health. American Red Cross contributes to public health by providing education and services such as primary care services, water hygiene and sanitation services, and disease prevention that communities need. American Red Cross’s mission is to prevent and reduce human suffering during emergencies by providing emergency care services during outbreaks such as fire or other natural disasters, crucial for public health. The organization’s vision focuses on preparing and equipping the communities to respond to disaster outbreaks, a core function of public health since public health aims at equipping people with knowledge to promote better decision-making. The organization also ensures that it trains people on basic life-saving skills to promote safety during emergencies. During a disaster, the American Red Cross provides shelter and basic needs such as access to care services and clean water and food to prevent an outbreak of diseases and promote the safety of community members, thereby contributing to public health and safety (Becker, 2018).
Organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.
The organization’s activities are meant to assist individuals vulnerable to suffering in times of conflict when natural and man-made disasters strike or due to poverty without discrimination. To promote equal opportunity for all the community members, the organization is committed to ensuring equality and inclusivity in its workforce and suppliers. The organization is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and ensures that it adopts a workforce from diverse communities, gender identities, sexual orientations, cultures, and backgrounds. This allows the organization to serve and meet the needs of different communities and cultures in the country and those they serve worldwide. American Red Cross also has a supplier program that advocates for equal opportunity for all community members. The supplier diversity program ensures that all members of the communities, including minority communities, disabled groups, veterans, and women, are given equal business opportunities to represent the communities served by the organization (American Red Cross, 2021).
To promote the quality of life in the community, the organization has more than 13,000 nurses across the country and other care providers who assist in the delivery of relief services. The organization also comprises several volunteers who participate in disaster relief measures, teaching disaster preparedness to the community, and work with hospitals to collect and distribute blood (American Red Cross, 2021).
Impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery
The American Red Cross receives its funds from public donations and compensation from some services, such as providing blood and blood products, and in rare cases, it may be contracted by the government. Since the federal government does not fund the organization, it is not regulated by the government, and therefore it has more freedom in deciding the type of services it provides and where and when the services are provided. The states mainly regulate non-profit organizations they operate in to prevent fraud cases. Red Cross has a legal status of federal instrumentality, and therefore its service delivery is guided by provisions of Geneva conventions and National Response Framework mandates and internal health policies that determine the services provided by the organization. Due to its legal status, the organization is also required to provide support services to the US. Military (Becker, 2018).
How the organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.
American Red Cross is mainly involved in providing health education and emergency care services to vulnerable communities improving their health and safety. The organization provides clean water and food and safety services such as first aid during disaster outbreaks. The organization also consists of volunteer care providers such as nurses and physicians who provide free primary care services to vulnerable communities. The organization at times also provides facilities that may lack in the community to improve the health of the people in the community. Together with other care providers, American Red Cross is also involved in providing health education and training to equip members of the society with basic care skills such as water safety and first aid skills (American Red Cross, 2021).
