Basic Black; 3508; Steppin' Down: Jackie Jenkins-Scott

You I'm Darren Duarte. Duarte. Roxbury's Dimmick Community Health Center has changed the way Boston thinks about delivering health care and services to at -risk communities. With me tonight, the outgoing CEO of Dimmick, Jackie Jenkins -Scott, talks about what it took to turn Dimmick into a

model for the nation and the challenges that still lie ahead. Jackie Jenkins -Scott, welcome. Thank you. Jackie, at the time you took over, what was your biggest challenge? Well, you know, at the time I took over, Dimmick was in receivership, so a form of bankruptcy. And we felt that Dimmick could not move forward until he could get beyond that, get out of receivership, get out from the grip of the court and the judge as nice as they were and as concerned as they were. It was a call that hung over the agency and hung over the organization. So that was our first big effort to get out of receivership. And at your appointment as president in 1983, the center was reported to be in shambles, if you will. it was. The medical director at the time said, this place looks like a slum. What was the place like when you arrived? Well, you know, it was very interesting because, as you know, Dimmick sits on ten acres in the middle of Roxbury,

just beautiful, beautiful site. And it had these wonderful old buildings that were in desperate need of uplifting and repair. They suffered from what you call deferred maintenance. And the buildings were beautiful. They had the basic structure, but they were in terrible, terrible disrepair. And they were actually kind of scary, you know, big old Victorian buildings. And so we wanted a building by building to preserve them and keep them. But it was recommended that you sell that property, wasn't it? Yes. We had an appraiser came and looked at the property because we were in bankruptcy, as I mentioned, a form of bankruptcy. And he basically said, well, know, these buildings aren't worth much of anything. You should tear them down and salt the land. someday it'll come back. And I think people felt, what a miscarriage, a misservice to the women who founded this institution at that time, a

hundred plus years previous to see. Talk to us about what Demek was, the history of the Demek Community Health Center prior to being. Sure. It was a hospital, actually, founded by women in the late 1800s. Really, when you think about it, very revolutionary women. Women couldn't practice medicine in this country at that time. There were no training facilities specifically to train women physicians and women nurses. And this group of women, who some were philanthropists, some were physicians, started the hospital with the explicit purpose of training women doctors and women nurses and for serving the poor and the underserved. And in fact, these women went out and they raised the money, they created the programs. They had many, many firsts along the way. So you thought if you sold that property off, you'd be doing a disservice to all they do? I thought those women would be turning over in their graves. I think that the buildings that they worked

so hard for would be torn down. But at that time, why did you even agree to take on such an enormous task before you even realized all of that, that it entailed? You know, when I was asked to interview for this job, I went to several interviews in downtown Boston and in fact, in the Hancock Tower by one of our board members at that time, Walter Jennings, was chairing the search committee. But I hadn't actually gone to Demick. And when I went to Demick, I just felt a wonderful spirit there. There were these incredible people who worked there. And I thought about the history of that place even though, you know, it needed a lot of repair. There were just people there who were working so hard that I just fell in love with it. And as they say, the rest is history. When you talk about the people who worked there, I had an opportunity to talk to some of the folks who worked there. And there is a personal service that they give to the

patients, which seems to me something that you don't see much anymore. If there's a patient who can't get the medication, they make sure they get it to their house and so forth. Was that going on back then as well? It was. I mean, that's one of the things that attracted me. Many of the physicians and nurses are still there, Carol Harrington, so many of our patients know her. There is a wonderful spirit of caring at Demick. People truly care about the patients and the clients and the families that we serve. And so, despite resources, not enough resources, people go out of their way to make sure that our patients and our clients and our community gets what they deserve. Today, Demick is considered to be a model for the city of Boston. How did you turn things around? Well, you know, I've been truly, truly blessed to have so many wonderful supporters, to have an incredible group of people to work with, and to have people who really cared about

that community, about the future of that institution. And so, bit by bit, we've been able to, over this past 20 years, to rebuild some of the buildings, but more important to really provide just incredible services for the clients. Speaking of services, today, Demick provides more than just medical care. We provide services in four big areas. The first is our smallest area, but in some ways, our most important workforce job training. And it started in 1969 with the closing of the hospital. position is that when people have jobs, when they have decent paying jobs, we know that their healthcare is better. We know that their children get their education. And so, we have a whole focus on helping people to enter the workforce with dignity and with good paying jobs. We also have the health services

that, of course, the Health Center is known for, a range of primary care services, outstanding HIV services for both families and children. We also operate a very large, what we call behavioral health, which is really substance abuse, mental health, mental retardation services for families in the region. And finally, we operate a whole set of comprehensive child and family development services, starting with the baby and going all the way to adolescence. Why did you feel it was so important to provide so many services that some might consider outside of the mainstream of healthcare? Well, you know, we were blessed. We have this campus of 10 acres with all these buildings, and we have an opportunity to do some things with and for families that many other organizations don't have. They don't have eight or nine buildings on 10 acres. And so, it allowed us to experiment with the concept that

we call one -stop shopping, and that is that families can come to DEMIC and receive a variety of services right in one place. And we've been very, very fortunate to be able to have that experiment, if you will. And we also, within the campus, there are friends who are located on our campus, who provide services that we don't provide. For example, the Metco headquarters is located at DEMIC. There is a Department of Social Service Regional Office at DEMIC. So, are opportunities that we were given, and we take, we believe that, you know, we're given this opportunity, we have this great facility, and we have an obligation to give back and to use it to promote the wishes of the founders. Was there ever any resistance when you started going out of the mainstream healthcare, or was it smooth sailing to offer these services at DEMIC? Well, know, nothing is smooth sailing. There were very few things

that are smooth sailing. But I can say we have received wonderful support. And people who, you know, at one time might think, well, this really isn't something you should be doing. After we have delivered those services, people have embraced them and supported us, and we feel very fortunate. We're about to embark on another new service that we're very proud of. We're going to take a part of one of our old buildings and renovate it for, as transitional housing for homeless families. And as you know, there are many families in this state who have to live in motels away from their families, away from their communities, and the children are not allowed to have consistent education because of those circumstances. So we're very, very blessed that we're embarking on a new service, which is to provide shelter for 25 families. And DEMIC, always being the risk taker that it is, is

actually going to allow teenagers to be in this transitional housing with their parents. Because that's something that most facilities don't do that, correct? Most facilities don't take children as old as 17 years of age, and those children are usually and very often separated from their families because it's very hard to find a place that will allow them to come. So we're very proud of that. Is it premature for me to say that, but are there also a lot of facilities who won't take black men who are that age, who may be affiliated with a family, who also have a difficult time finding facilities that will serve them? And you know, we don't blame the facilities. Each of us have circumstances that we have to try to address in our physical plant. And sometimes it's more difficult to find a place for

men because the truth of the matter is most homeless families are mom and children, one or two or three children. So it's kind of unusual to have a male with his children. And so facilities have to kind of make adjustments. But we're very, very fortunate that the layout of our facility will allow us to serve these families that are not often able to find. Is this then like one of your last stamps, if you will, on Demiq as you depart? It is. And it's one I'm very proud of. I will be leaving Demiq in early 2004, as you know. And this program will open. We're hoping and praying that it'll be open for Thanksgiving so that families can have their Thanksgiving dinner at Demiq. I imagine this has been in the works for a while. It has been in the works for the past two years. the reality of the state's budget cuts and just how the economy is going. As

you leave Demiq and this program is starting, do you have any mixed feelings about that? Oh, I have wonderful feelings about this program starting. I have very, very mixed feelings about what is going on in our economy and the state. Demiq likes so many programs. We've lost a lot of programs, just needed programs over the past 18 months with the economy. We lost many of our outreach and education programs aimed at young people, many of our prevention, smoking prevention programs. so I'm very, very sad about that and very hopeful that the future will bring a better situation for us in this state so that we can truly provide for the neediest in our communities. You mentioned the future. What do you think are going to be the main challenges that lie ahead for Demiq? I think there'll be three big challenges among the many. But the first is that, you know, there's so many

needs in our community. We have an incredible community with a great history, but the community is changing and continues to change. And I think one of the challenges will be that organizations like Demiq, to try to meet the changing needs of families that come before us, we're seeing issues around, of course, HIV and AIDS and health, many health issues, diabetes and cardiovascular issues that need to be addressed in our communities. And so we hope and pray there'll be the resources available to be responsive. The second is that we have been tremendously blessed to have an incredible group of people who work at Demiq, but it is a challenge to keep, attract and recruit people and keep them particularly given the fact that some people can go and make more money at other places and have better benefits than we

can offer. We try to keep up with those things. We try to offer good pay and offer good benefits. And the fact of the matter, rightfully so, many organizations are understanding that we live in a diverse society. And if you really want to be the best you can as an organization, you need to reflect the society that we live in. And so we are constantly challenged to have great people who come to us and they get wonderful offers and they're able to move on to great jobs, but we have to find new people and so it goes. So that's the second challenge. I think a third challenge is to make sure that we continue to attract great volunteers to Demiq. As you know, we are a organization and I believe nonprofit organizations can only be as good as their board of directors and other volunteers. We have to continuously be challenged. We also have to have people who love what we do and want to support us in many ways, including

sharing of their resources. And so that's a third challenge to find good people who love what we do and who want to make us the best that we can be. You managed to make Demiq one of the largest, if not the largest, inner city employers in Boston. And Boston is a city with a long history of being considered part of the good old boy network. Tell me about the challenge of being both a president and CEO in this town, someone who happens to be a black woman. Talk to us about that. Well, you know, I am probably an African American woman and Boston is an interesting city as you know. It's a great city and I think one of the beauties of Boston, particularly in this last, I would say this last decade, is that the business and corporate community has understood and is beginning to understand how important it is to

have diversity at all levels. And so I can truly say that I have received great support. I'd like to believe that my competence and my excellence and what I try to do has helped with that. And I have had a network of people, particularly African American people in this city, both men and women, who have just been there for me and supported Demiq as we have undertaken each and every step of our growth. Boston has challenges like so many cities, but Boston also is an incredible resource where I think that those who, to put their effort into it, can do well in the city. What do you think have been the most critical skills that you needed that helped navigate your career? Well, you know, as I grew up, my

parents used to tell me that you have to be the best. You can't be mediocre in what you do. And unfortunately, that has been the case, I think, for African Americans for so many years. I find myself still telling my children that I regret that, that we haven't grown that much as a country. But in a way, you know, those were very good words from my parents, because being the best that you can forces you to work very hard. And I think when you work hard, it pays off. And we've seen that at Demiq, whether it's for the work that we do and the clients and patients that we serve. And so it means that you always take everything one step further than what you think you might have to. So that's one tip that I would say, I think excellence always, I think, at the end of the day wins out. Are there techniques, though, too, that you may offer

other women who want to start out today and want to start out being a president or CEO of a company? What are the critical skills you think they need? I think there are a couple of critical skills. One is, I think, leaders have to have the ability to articulate a vision. And they have to have the ability to get others to buy into that vision. Because in order to make success in anything we do, we can't do it alone. And so you have to get people to understand the importance of the vision, understand why they're needed. And so I think that's one skill that's very important in leadership. I think a second skill that leaders, women leaders, I think, have to have is they have to be willing to take risk and they have to be willing to call it as they see it. And that doesn't mean we have to be mean about

things that aren't right or aren't working right. But we have to be willing to stand up and speak out for what we believe in. What is the biggest risk you think you've taken? Oh, we've taken lots of risk. I remember back in the late 1980s, we took a risk with creating a program on our campus for women, pregnant incarcerated women. In the late 1980s in Massachusetts, women who got in trouble with the law and they were pregnant had their babies at Framingham. They were taken to the hospital. And within 24 hours, they lost their baby. Babies were put up for adoption. And we felt that that was wrong. And God blessed us with a facility at Demek. We went out and we raised some money to renovate it and worked with a wonderful group of women who wanted to see women have good care, good care during their pregnancy. And so we took

that risk. And a lot of people said, you know, why are you doing this? You're a health center. You know, why are you building a facility for pregnant incarcerated women? And it's been a wonderful program. It's still on the campus. And the same thing with HIV AIDS. Demek was one of the very first organizations to create a policy for our employees who have HIV for how we will behave as an organization and our commitment to that population. Those are the risks that seem to have paid off for you and for Demek? They paid off for Demek. Most importantly, they paid off for the people that we've been able to serve. Was there one that didn't pay off that you regret? That I regret. That it didn't pay off. Well, you know, that's a good question. We joked about the car wash. We talked off camera that you wanted to put a car wash in at the beginning and have people who worked

there who were in the halfway homes to actually work at the car wash so they could get job skills. And I told you, I've seen organizations do that today and it's worked. That's a risk that that's a program we wanted to do that didn't quite happen. you know, you're right. Running a car wash is a good, honest business that you learn a lot of skills being an entrepreneur. so I kind of, even today, I kind of wish we were able to pull that one off. You've helped raise millions of dollars for Demek over the years. Every year we have stepping out. But prior to that, and after that, you've raised millions of dollars. What advice can you give to other women who want to have a strong negotiating ability to be able to do those kinds of things, especially when it comes to obtaining major financing? Sure. Well, one of the things I think is execution, execution, execution. And it goes back to the excellence theme. If

you're thinking about fundraising for your organization, I strongly recommend good sound planning. And sometimes we have to have patience. And in our country, patience is the skill we're continuing to develop. Sometimes it doesn't happen the first time that you have an event. For example, stepping out's a great, wonderful event now. have 3 ,500 people every year. The very first stepping out, we had 500 people and we raised about $25 ,000. And we thought a lot about whether we should do it again. And we were very, very blessed that our board said, we'll give you three years to see if you can turn it around. three, after three years, the event took off. So patience is one thing, having a good, strong vision and really doing the planning that's necessary to have a good event or to raise money or to ask you to make a gift to the cause that you believe so deeply in. That will continue while you're gone?

It will continue while I'm gone, I hope. Or it'll be something else that will be even bigger and better. What does the future hold for you? Oh, I'm looking forward to the future. I don't know exactly what I'm going to be doing. I know that it will be something that will, I hope, that I can use my talents and skills to continue to give back to our communities. Do you hold out some hope for what will happen to Dimmock once you're gone? You were there two decades. I'm sure the place is going to survive, but that's a long time to be running a place. It is a long time to be running a place. I always feel that really the test of a good leader is how the place does after you're gone. And I have the greatest, greatest joy and confidence that Dimmock's going to be even better. Its best days are yet to come. The other night you were at an event

where you said goodbye to the people at Dimmock and goodbye to the community. Anything you want to say about that to the people who said goodbye to you? It was a very special event. When we started planning it, it wasn't to be a sort of goodbye. was a celebration of 20 years of just a remarkable 20 years for Dimmock. And since then, of course, I've announced that I'll be leaving in a few months. so it, of course, was difficult not to say goodbye to so many people. It was a very, very special moment for me. I feel honored and blessed that I had an opportunity to say thank you to so many people who've done so much for Dimmock and for me. Sum up the experience that you've had if you could sum it up in 10 seconds with both the people who worked there in the community that you served. Growth, learning, love, progress, struggle, great

joy, wonderful, wonderful friends and just a remarkable 20 years. Jackie Jenkins -Scott, thank you for talking with us. Thank you for having me. For all of us at Basic Black, thank you for joining us. Good night. For questions or comments, you can email us. Our address is basicblackatwgbh .org. Or you can visit our website at wgbh .org slash basicblack.