About Us
2024 Officers: Karen Telschow Johnson, JD – President Shakita Johnson, Esq., LBSW – Past-President Ann McGowan, MSN, RN - Treasurer /President-Elect Karina Blest, MA, BBA - Secretary Board Members: Leah Wingard, Executive Director Stephanie Broussard, LCSW-S, APHSW-C Elva Roy Gail Snider Kelly Hampton, LMSW Board Emeritus: Kendra Belfi, MD Dr. Jerry Barker - Chief Medical Officer Advisory Board: Cantor Sheri Allen Melinda Bailey, BS - Webmaster Rev. Dr. Mike Johnston - Past President We pledge ourselves to conduct our activities with transparency, integrity, and accountability, and to engage and inspire individuals and communities for public benefit. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Find out more about Care & Prepare: From Leah's desk: ACP 2 Me Download our brochure. Guidestar Profile |
Our Why
We plan for everything, but why not our medical care wishes? We have a death averse culture, so dying & end of life care issues are rarely discussed even with some terminally ill patients. This is not an acceptable standard of care. COVID has brought the subject of mortality to the forefront & we are making the most of the opportunity to help people understand their healthcare rights & responsibilities for young and old alike. One of the first steps is to "Choose your Champion!"© through designating your Medical Power of Attorney. Care & Prepare participated in a study that was reported in JAMA Network May 2020. The research question was: “Can a low-cost, easily scaled, end-of-life conversation game motivate underserved African American individuals to engage in advance care planning?” Currently, less than 25% of BIPOC have ACP planning. Hence, they are less likely to have their medical care wishes known & honored. We are heartened to see that our collaborative efforts locally contribute to national research. Our goal is to bring more people together to explore their medical wishes in their community with faith leaders, physicians, et al. Currently, the minority community is suffering greatly from COVID and our hearts are broken. However, we believe we have developed a new sustainable model for reaching the BIPOC community with a compelling "Choose your Champion!"© message. C&P has an ambitious new pilot project on the drawing board: "#ACPforAll"! Want to join us in reaching our neighbors with this important message? Connect with us at [email protected] or 817-247-1776 Our Giving page Invest in our efforts with #NTXGivingDay |
History
For over 25 years, dedicated professionals have volunteered their time, talent, & treasure to Coalition for Quality End-of-Life Care (CQEC) to move the conversation forward about quality end-of-life care in our community. CQEC officially incorporated in 2007 was born out of many years of serving seniors and others with catastrophic, chronic, or critical illnesses.
The last several years, we noticed that our mission has evolved and we outgrew the CQEC name. In January of 2019, our Board moved forward with a DBA. We are now "Care & Prepare" (C&P). The Board also named Dr. Jerry Barker as our Chief Medical Officer.
C&P has survived as a labor of love starting with our founding members and one key founder still leading the way is Kendra J. Belfi, MD, FACP, well-known geriatrician, in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Belfi is a past president and current Board Member Emeritus, and frequent public speaker. In February of 2019, Dr. Kendra Belfi received the Fort Worth Business Press' prestigious Healthcare Heroes Award for her Lifetime Achievement. Many other healthcare professionals have joined forces with Dr. Belfi and C&P to disseminate the Advance Care Planning message. All adults over the age of 18 should have ACP education & decisions made regarding healthcare planning. Healthcare status can change in an instant. We have all seen catastrophic injury or illness sideline even the healthiest among us. COVID only heightens the demand for our services.
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In the early 1990s many of the Coalition for Quality End of Life Care (CQEC) early organizers first worked together on the Texas Clergy Project. This was a pilot project of the Texas partnership for End-of-Life Care (TxPEC) designed to assist clergy and faith communities in caring for the dying.
Dr. Kendra Belfi, M.D. was chair of the TxPEC education committee and led this effort with the assistance of Reverend Rodney Bolejak, D.Min.
This program was subsequently duplicated in other parts of Texas. The project became the impetus for the development of the Tarrant Area Partnership for End-of-Life Care(TAPEC), one of several coalitions under the umbrella of TxPEC.
The TAPEC leadership desired to form its own 501 C (3) nonprofit organization with control of programs and policies at the local level of Tarrant County and environs, rather than sharing the 501 C (3) designation of the state-wide TxPEC organization. TAPEC was dissolved, 1999 CQEC rose out of the ashes and after 20 years of nurturing we have grown into Care & Prepare.
Past Presidents: David Lowe, MA, MDiv, BCC, Joan Reynolds, MSSW, Debbie Schutkowski, LMSW, TxCG, Jaime Cobb, CAEd, Kendra Belfi, M.D., and Cantor Sheri Allen
The last several years, we noticed that our mission has evolved and we outgrew the CQEC name. In January of 2019, our Board moved forward with a DBA. We are now "Care & Prepare" (C&P). The Board also named Dr. Jerry Barker as our Chief Medical Officer.
C&P has survived as a labor of love starting with our founding members and one key founder still leading the way is Kendra J. Belfi, MD, FACP, well-known geriatrician, in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Belfi is a past president and current Board Member Emeritus, and frequent public speaker. In February of 2019, Dr. Kendra Belfi received the Fort Worth Business Press' prestigious Healthcare Heroes Award for her Lifetime Achievement. Many other healthcare professionals have joined forces with Dr. Belfi and C&P to disseminate the Advance Care Planning message. All adults over the age of 18 should have ACP education & decisions made regarding healthcare planning. Healthcare status can change in an instant. We have all seen catastrophic injury or illness sideline even the healthiest among us. COVID only heightens the demand for our services.
_____________________________________________
In the early 1990s many of the Coalition for Quality End of Life Care (CQEC) early organizers first worked together on the Texas Clergy Project. This was a pilot project of the Texas partnership for End-of-Life Care (TxPEC) designed to assist clergy and faith communities in caring for the dying.
Dr. Kendra Belfi, M.D. was chair of the TxPEC education committee and led this effort with the assistance of Reverend Rodney Bolejak, D.Min.
This program was subsequently duplicated in other parts of Texas. The project became the impetus for the development of the Tarrant Area Partnership for End-of-Life Care(TAPEC), one of several coalitions under the umbrella of TxPEC.
The TAPEC leadership desired to form its own 501 C (3) nonprofit organization with control of programs and policies at the local level of Tarrant County and environs, rather than sharing the 501 C (3) designation of the state-wide TxPEC organization. TAPEC was dissolved, 1999 CQEC rose out of the ashes and after 20 years of nurturing we have grown into Care & Prepare.
Past Presidents: David Lowe, MA, MDiv, BCC, Joan Reynolds, MSSW, Debbie Schutkowski, LMSW, TxCG, Jaime Cobb, CAEd, Kendra Belfi, M.D., and Cantor Sheri Allen
