Healthier Communities

Supporting connections that lead to life-saving medical care

By Katie Panzica

Engagement Program Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility

John Culich was a 54-year-old with a substance use disorder living in a tent on the street in Kansas City, Missouri.

Unable to walk or get food due to an untreated infection in his spine, he was offered water and a snack by a volunteer from Care Beyond the Boulevard.

That simple act of kindness sparked a connection that enabled John to get the medical care he needed, including a six-week hospital stay, followed by a long physical rehabilitation.

Doctors told John that the support that he received from Care Beyond the Boulevard undoubtedly saved his life. 

John is one of the thousands of people who live or once lived on the streets in the greater Kansas City area who received medical support from Care Beyond the Boulevard, a volunteer-supported nonprofit founded in 2016 by Janelle “KK” Assmann.

 

Back then, KK was studying to become a nurse practitioner and volunteering at a local food ministry. She saw the need for quality medical care for those coming to the ministry and was determined to open a clinic offering free, high-quality medical and mental health support to residents who are unhoused or underserved.

 

“One of the biggest challenges, besides financial, that this population faces in receiving care is the lack of trust of medical providers,” said KK, whose organization’s old green school bus can be seen parked on side streets as volunteers talk to community members experiencing homelessness. “Building trust with individuals who have experienced past healthcare trauma due to homelessness, drug addiction, or mental health issues often starts with offering water or snacks. Once they see us as compassionate humans, it becomes easier for them to trust us as medical providers,” KK said.

 

It is through the thousands of snack packs, kits of healthcare essentials and bottled water donated by local organizations and companies like Thermo Fisher Scientific that Care Beyond the Boulevard creates these critical connections.

 

John agrees.

“Care Beyond the Boulevard gave me everything I needed; emotional, material and medical. That support allowed me to go back to school and now I serve my community as a substance use disorder counselor,” he said. “I have rediscovered my purpose at the age of 60 and I am living my best life because of their kindness.”

 

Volunteers at Thermo Fisher’s Lenexa, Kansas, site have supported individuals like John by donating and packing 21,000 snack packs, 2,000 hygiene and 1,000 winter kits over the past three years. These much-needed donations enable Care Beyond the Boulevard to focus its funding on medical and mental health care.

 

About 90 percent of the colleagues at the site participate in the kit packing, according to Kathy Stack, leader of the site’s Community Action Council (CAC), oftentimes doing so during their breaks and between shifts. The Lenexa CAC is one of more than 160 colleague-led community engagement groups at Thermo Fisher that support local organizations in communities around the world.

 

“Volunteering to make kits for Care Beyond the Boulevard feeds the soul,” said Donna Koontz, a training coordinator at the Lenexa site, where the 600 colleagues help make tubes, vials and microbiology products used in diagnostic testing, among other lab items. “It is the little things that can make a difference, one kit at a time. I am not a doctor, nurse or bus driver that volunteers on site, but I can put kits together at work that help people in need,” Donna said.

 

Quotation marks
"The value that Thermo Fisher brings to our organization through the donation of the snack packs and kits is immeasurable. Without that component of our operation, we would not be nearly as successful in meeting people where they are at and getting them the health care they need."
Janelle "KK" Assmann
Founder
Care Beyond the Boulevard

Although direct interactions with unhoused community members are conducted by trained healthcare professionals who volunteer with Care Beyond the Boulevard, KK stressed the importance of those first connections with the people they support.

 

“The value that Thermo Fisher brings to our organization through the donation of the snack packs and kits is immeasurable,” KK said. “Without that component of our operation, we would not be nearly as successful in meeting people where they are at and getting them the health care they need. I’m so grateful to have made the connection with such a wonderful company whose partnership over the past three years has made a true impact. Their partnership with us shows that it truly takes us all.”

 

Kathy said she first met with KK and Care Beyond the Boulevard in 2020 when she was looking for local organizations the CAC could support to amplify Thermo Fisher’s focus on improving health outcomes globally. After her first conversation with KK, she knew it would be a great partnership.

 

“The passion KK and her team demonstrate for their patients is amazing and inspires me,” Kathy said.

 

The CAC received a Community Impact Grant from Thermo Fisher to support the site’s regular packing events, including one at each new hire orientation.

CACs can apply for grants to support local colleague engagement activities that align to the company’s community focus areas of health and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) equity.

In 2023, colleagues donated nearly 100,000 volunteer hours to support their local communities supported by these grants.

“It’s wonderful to have such a strong culture of giving at Thermo Fisher and to see all the colleagues here rally around such an impactful cause,” Kathy said. “I’m honored to be able to support such a wonderful organization like Care Beyond the Boulevard, which aligns so closely to our Mission to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.” 

To learn more about how Thermo Fisher works to improve health outcomes with customers for patients and across communities globally, download the company’s annual Corporate Social Responsibility report.

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