Florida Blue: A Nonprofit That's More Than Health Insurance

hello hello hello this is Tima Peters president  and CEO of grow your nonprofit will we help startup small and stagnant nonprofits grow through  fundraising strategies strategic planning and so much more guys today you're in for a treat I have  my special guest here Allison she is with Florida Blue we would discuss how with her outreach  program she is growing the nonprofit through Partnerships Health initiatives and so much more  but before we get started i' like to thank the sponsors of my pod

cast Trinity life Foundation  nabes helping atrisk youth or their enrichment programs Avid that stands for the associations of  Haitians living abroad they just open an amazing support center right here in the beautiful Fort  Meyers where they will help you with immigration support Utility Billing and English as a second  language facts truths they just received a grant from the CDC to raise awareness of covid-19  and vaccine resources in the black and brown communities Premier mobile Health Ser

vices your  route to Better Health last but not least best insurance USA a Florida blue provider helping you  navigate the Waters of health insurance business insurance and so much more so guys like I said my  special guest here Allison how's it going Alison hello great it's going wonderful U my name is  Allison Smith I am a community specialist with Florida Blue uh we have a beautiful Center  in Sunny Southwest Estero Florida at Coconut Point Mall and uh we offer a lot there more than  just sel

ling health insurance we do sell health insurance to individuals under the age of 65 as  well as uh Medicare age folks but we also have customer service agents MH we have nurses on staff  we have uh myself which is like a social worker uh so uh our nurses and myself we're both certified  health coaches okay so we give presentations on different topics monthly starting in January  we'll resume our monthly presentations my topic in January will be mastering your motivation  M staying on point stay

ing focused for your goals and your wellness and your health related  uh goals that you may have and our nurses also can check your blood pressure your cholesterol and  your glucose all of that's free for members we do give out a free gift to people that come in and  yeah show us this great Mediterranean dish book I was looking at that and I don't I don't know  if it has meat on there but it looks very talz and and delicious yes lots of fresh healthy and  delicious recipes uh in this cookbook it

's just one of our free gifts uh every season we kind of  rotate different gifts that we like to give out oo members that come and meet with our nurses or  starting in January if they meet with myself the community specialist and we I help them out with  resources mental well-being support substance abuse support if it's needed Health Plan literacy  uh they will also get a free gift from for meeting with me in the center and uh I can work with both  members and non-members so not just exclusivel

y M okay that's that's really good to know because  I know some people may be shy maybe they don't have their legal status and they they still need  access to care cuz as you know we want to prevent people from staying out of the emergency room so  even if they're not a member just get giving them information to healthy choices such as ways to  cook healthy meals um mental health you taichi when you first arrived you gave me your calendar  for December and I understand yes here's the calendar an

d you have um a different calendar  every month and there was a a what what was it painting with a painting with passion with paint  painting with passion we have strength balance and Str stretch Zumba so these are activities that  are free to the public whether you're a member or not correct exactly so Zumba Tai Chi strength  balance and stretch uh yoga the painting with passion all of these classes are free and open  to the public you do not have to be a member to come to the classes come have

fun do a painting  class take a fitness class class feel better uh feel healthier and our mission is is all about you  know helping communities and people achieve better health so this is on point with that mission  yeah and that's very important taking care of the whole total person because you know often  times the direction in the Health Care System sometimes is just medication medication but is  there a way through food diet exercise maybe I need to lose weight where I could lower my blood 

pressure for example um those different strategies and also mental I know mental health is a big  thing now something that we didn't always talk about growing up and now we see that it's very  important because your mental health could also throw off your whole chemistry in your body and  make you ill as well so that's very important so as a community outreach person I'm always  interested in Partnerships and how nonprofits or growing their Partnerships and what do they  look for when they alig

n themselves with Partners so let's talk about the types of Partnerships I  know we talked about it a few if you could kind of tell us the Partnerships you have locally in the  community and how you go about aligning yourself with the right Partnerships and what you look  for sure absolutely so just uh recently Florida blue and our retail Center in Estero we've been  involved with and affiliated with many things uh we've done the walk to end Alzheimer's which was  just last weekend or the weeken

d before we've done the col Your Heart Walk making strides Up Against  Breast Cancer Walk we've done that several years in a row uh walk for wishes of Southwest Florida  which is make a wish March of Dimes we went to a gala this year we're part of the greater Fort  Meyers chamber ofce awesome the Estero Chamber of Commerce the Naples Chamber of Commerce the  Hispanic chamber of commerce wow uh we're really heavily involved with the heights Foundation which  is right here in Lee County in Fort Me

yers uh we did a wonderful uh B we helped them with their  back to school event okay um we also had a back to school event at our Center in August where we gave  out free backpacks to the community for children uh and had all sorts of fun activities and events  going on uh we're helping out Heights Foundation Now with uh Christmas toy drive for the children  in the community that's good to know uh we also part of women in business which is mues andador  okay we're part of the networking say that

three times yes yes I do speak a little Spanish but  uh that is that one was tricky for me tonight uh and then H we're also part of the newspaper  El Mena de Southwest Florida okay I'm familiar with those organizations and and also my client  Avid the associations of Haitians living abroad I know Florida Blue was really instrumental in  helping them with their back to school event and recently they also had a turkey bash and family  fund day actually last month at three different locations in F

ort Meyers na in amle and Florida  Blue was instrumental um with their sponsorships to help with turkeys and food and then the back  to school suppli so thank you so much um I know uh when organization reach out to you you guys see  if their mission aligns with you guys's Mission and you try to help so that's really important  so how do you find an align with the different organizations do they reach out to you or you  you're intentional about reaching out to other organizations so it's a combin

ation of my role as  a community specialist is to create partnership and outreaches with the community agencies and  nonprofits that are around and staying aware of what's available for people a member or non-member  that may need to get to a food pantry or may need help with an electric bill or may need help with  housing you guys help with that my role my I help with uh oh aligning them with nonprofits that  offer those Services I see okay okay but then as far as what your question was to to g

et back to  that so yes making these connections is part of my job to stay in the loop with these agencies  but then connecting them with other people within Florida Blue that can maybe uh continue  Partnerships and coordinate all that you know that's very important because I know sometimes  the smaller nonprofits don't always have the budget to provide benefits to their employees  and in some cases if an employee is part-time are is at a sec a certain economic threshold that  they may be able t

o uh receive free health care or a very reduced rate and through the Florida  Blue Marketplace and what one one another thing I like about Florida Blue is that um the client  just don't choose a health plan you sit down and you learn more information about them and their  family Dynamics and help them select the best plan possible for them and give them an opportunity  to answer questions it's not just a transaction it's it's the whole person and I can tell um by  the way you talk about the prog

rams and services that you offer and that you're connected to the  community it's not just a a oneand done right exactly if someone comes in looking for insurance  they're going to leave with a whole lot more than that they're going to leave with a whole team of  people that are there to help them understand the benefits the rewards uh if they have a question  about a claim or billing um if they want to talk to a nurse about uh eating healthy or reducing  their cholesterol or uh healthy blood pr

essure and how to get there uh we can help with all of  that and then if they need help with mental health or substance abuse or they know someone that does  you know it's a whole family community thing and we're there for them and so we wrap around them  with everything and then offer them some free classes as well that they can participate in if  they want to wow you he that guys free classes uh a themed gift every month uh such as this  Mediterranean uh dish book where you can cook yourself h

ealthy meals so that's very important  so what is one thing people would be surprised to learn about Florida Blue that's not obvious  uh well we've been around for many many years in Florida and um we are just trying to help people  and communities achieve Better Health and trying to be creative about that and look at Social  determinance of health and uh inequities and trying to balance that and so that everyone has  equal opportunity for healthcare and resources and um yeah so so yeah so let's

touch on health  inequities why why do you feel that there health and equities is it a lack of Education um that  there are actually resources that are available to certain segments of our population um do you do  you know so I don't know an exact answer to that I think it's a it's a complex question definitely so  I think there's a lot of factors that go into that but lack of yeah knowledge of what's available out  there and then you know I think it's a it's always a work in progress we're try

ing to improve and  and better better you know for for the community so yeah that's very important I think by getting  involved um like you are with the the the Chambers of Commerce is and letting people know what you  do you know information spreads I know uh during you know covid-19 and in certain communities not  getting the vaccine I know some groups that I work with they were able to reach more people in the  minority communities through the the churches so because people tend to believe in

um like what  their neighbors are saying or their congregation or or church is saying so that's very important  you know TR yeah it's having that trust it's very important yeah trust is very important so so  with that said as you look for other Partnerships um how would someone uh reach you you could  whether it's your uh your email address or telephone number it'll it'll appear on the screen  sure so uh my name is Allison Smith my email is just my first and last name so allison. Smith and  tha

t's Allison with two L's a l l i s o n. Smith floridablue.com and my phone number 239 494 3460  that's the number for the center in Estero uh so if you need to reach a sales agent a service agent  a nurse or myself that's the same number that you could call to reach the center all right thank  you so much Allison for your time for coming on the grow your nonprofit uh podcast and sharing  with our audience the strategies you're using to form Partnerships and also to make an impact in  the communi

ty thank you for having me thank you so guys I hope you learned something here today  Florida Blue is a nonprofit it may not appear as a nonprofit because they're so large but everyone  has humble beginnings everyone starts somewhere whether you're a for-profit or a nonprofit the  strategy use to grow your nonprofit is through strategic planning leadership and having a  team because in order to elevate you have to delegate so they have a huge team out there in  the communities joining uh organiz

ations such as the Chambers of Commerce uh being involved in  walks mental Health to also be a referral base to people in the community so that's very important  so this is tamaa please don't forget to like And subscribe to our YouTube channel don't forget guys  yes we do have a Etsy store with our merch please visit it and see all sorts of cool nonprofit merch  so stay tuned for more grow your nonprofit podcast episodes introducing the grow your nonprofit  merch in our Etsy store so go on over

to our Etsy store today and explore our collection pick your  favorites by doing so you're not only elevating your style but also contributing to the grow your  nonprofit Mission thank you for being part of our community and thank you for your dedication to  making a difference we appreciate your support and we can't wait to see you rocking our grow your  nonprofit merch now stay tuned for more empowering content on grow your nonprofit podcast and  until our next time keep growing and keep givin

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