12/13/2010
The HCHL account at PeoplesBank has been closed. Buying updated health reference books for the Holyoke Public Library had used up the available $140 balance.
12/11/2010
During the Holiday Gala & Silent Auction at the Holyoke Public Library Saturday night December 11, 2010, Sandy Ward showed the Health Information section of the Reference collection to one of Holyoke's physicians, at his request. He had remembered our project and wanted to see what we had done.
Sandy reflected on the cycle of this project. Years ago when she had inquired whether the Public Library might consider developing a branch location dedicated to consumer health, María Pagán, the Library Director, had replied that the TRUNK would have to be stronger before any BRANCHES could be added. Sandy understood these wise words, and looked elsewhere to establish a pilot health library. Years passed ... Eventually Sandy gave up on that separate path, and came to HPL to lend a hand in strengthening the trunk. This fall she has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Holyoke Public Library.
During the 10 years of this Holyoke Consumer Health library project, there have been many phases and processes:
12/9/2010
Sandy Ward delivered a box of books and a letter to Holyoke Public Library Director María Pagán.
12/1/2010
At this fall's Annual Meeting, we decided to buy some updated health reference books for the Holyoke Public Library, spending the remains of our small bank account ($140). We intend to close the bank account by the end of the year. The projector and screen purchased with our 2004-2006 NLM grant was given to the Holyoke Public Library's speaker bureau on November 18, 2010. We did not elect new officers. We decided instead to discontinue this organization. We (as individuals) can still work informally to promote MedlinePlus and other reliable sources of health information.
HCHL, Inc., does not need to continue as a formal organization.
3/23/2010
The mailing address for HCHL, Inc. is now 489 Whitney Ave, Suite 201, Holyoke, MA, 01040. Jim Craig, President, and Sandy Ward, Treasurer, met there to plan the change. Doug Fleury, HCHL Clerk, completed the official form to notify the Commonwealth of change of principal address of our nonprofit corporation. Bank statements and our checks will continue to use the old address, as long as Sandy is Treasurer. Jim will pick up the rest of the mail at the new address, which is within the Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Families, just south of the Holyoke Mall.
12/22/2009
Domain name redirected (by changing the nameservers in our GoDaddy.com registration) to our ARCHIVED location. This message has been added to each page in the top two layers of the site: “** NOTE: This is an ARCHIVED version of our website. We are no longer adding links or resources to these pages.
We recommend using MedlinePlus (actively maintained by the National Library of Medicine) instead.”
11/30/2009
Brief HCHL meeting, followed by attending the HFFPC event at Providence Ministries. Jim Craig said he would follow up with HHC. We talked with Jeff Harness about possibility of using his office (Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Families) as a mailing address for HCHL.
11/20/2009
Successful outreach to Learner-Teacher day sponsored by Juntos on the theme
“Healthy Holyoke”: Making changes for our families' health. Friday, November 20 8:30AM-1:30PM at United Congregational Church. Sandy set up an information table with MedlinePlus and GoLocal promotional materials. Holyoke Health Center staff conducted workshops on obesity, smoking, nutrition, and healthy eating. This literacy event was attended by adult basic learners and ESOL students from a variety of classes in Holyoke. Jody Spitz, Pathways to Family Success, coordinated the day and had invited us to participate.
HHC staff (e.g., Dawn, Jeanette) greeted Sandy warmly, spoke favorably about the MedlinePlus trainings Jen Hartley had done under our NLM grant, and invited us to return for an in-service training. New staff have come, of course, since Jen's workshops (which reached 42 HHC staff in 2005). MedlinePlus is being used actively at HHC, says Dawn.
10/19/2009
ANNUAL MEETING. We decided to continue the organization, rather than pay the high fee ($315) for applying to dissolve the corporation. Jim Craig was elected President, Doug Fleury will continue as Clerk, and Sandy Ward agreed to replace Judy as Treasurer. We discussed several ideas for moving forward and agreed to investigate a few options and meet again on November 30th.
10/8/2009
Date for Annual Meeting of HCHL, Inc., set for Monday October 19th, 3:30pm, at Holyoke Public Library. The four Officers were notified by phone and email. Lacking a webmaster, and lacking a volunteer to run for President, we are seriously considering closing down the formal organization.
This website has been copied onto a different server for historical purposes. We will redirect the public to MedlinePlus.gov as a starting point.
August 2009
Our new webmaster, who had barely had time to plan the upgrading of this site, notified us that she'd be moving out of the state for a new job, and thus resigned as HCHL webmaster. A good promotion for her, but a loss for us.
2/14/2009
Website maintenance: checking for and editing broken links.
1/30/2009
Good news for the new year: an experienced librarian has volunteered to
help update and maintain this website.
12/07/2008
Website maintenance: some obsolete sections of this website deleted.
12/05/2008
Jim and Sandy attended the WMHIC meeting at Shriner's Hospital and had
a brief side conversation about our HCHL website. The issues of future
webhosting and responsibility for updating still have not been
resolved. Sandy recently learned that the cost with our current service
has risen to $22.50/month and is likely to rise again. (The $10/month
rate for non-profits is no longer an option.) Jim will check again with
the volunteer(s) he has in mind for webpage maintenance, and followup
with some contacts at institutions that might be willing to help with
hosting.
10/27/2008
At the Annual Meeting of HCHL, Inc., Jim Craig and Marilyn Billings
gave a demonstration of ScholarWorks
at UMass and discussed possible areas of collaboration.
HCHL Officers for 2009 were elected: Sandy Ward, President; Jim Craig, Vice President; Doug Fleury, Clerk; and Judy Atkin, Treasurer. We discussed the possibility of bringing the formal corporation to a close by May 2009 (when we will file the required 2008 tax forms). We completed the required Annual Report form for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Corporations Division for submission with its $15 fee.
10/16/2008
Announcement:
Annual Meeting of HCHL, Inc.
Monday October 27, 3:30 - 5:00 pm in the Library at Holyoke Community College (in the Donahue Building).
Come see proposed changes to our website and
participate in discussion of next steps for our organization.
10/13/2008
Jim Craig and Sandy Ward met to plan agenda for upcoming annual
meeting.
News items from earlier years are archived: 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | Sept-Dec 2004 | 2003-2004 transition | History page with links to earliest years |
** NOTE: This is an ARCHIVED version of our website. We are no longer adding links or resources to these pages.
We recommend using MedlinePlus (actively maintained by the National Library of Medicine) instead.
For questions or comments about this web site, please contact us.