As Florida recovers from Hurricane Helene, the state's network of Community Health Centers continues to provide crucial care statewide.

Community Health Centers see patients despite their ability to pay. Although some facilities avoided significant damage, the storm's widespread impact is straining resources, staff and patients. Clinics from Sarasota to the Panhandle are focused on rebuilding and restoring services.

Despite the storm's size and power, said Gianna Van Winkle, director of emergency management programs for the Florida Association of Community Health Centers, the centers largely avoided catastrophic damage.

"No total losses or anything like that," she said, "but at the same time, there's power loss, there's staff and patient impacts that are going to affect the way that these health centers operate in these days and weeks ahead."

In hard-hit rural areas, where resources and infrastructure are often limited, health centers operate mobile units and partner with county officials to deliver care and supplies. They're also collecting relief supplies to support workers affected by the storm.

Health centers along the Gulf Coast, including in Sarasota, faced significant flooding. Christine Coviello, chief advancement and engagement officer for CenterPlace Health, said its facilities avoided structural damage, but had to close for a day because staff members were unable to reach the clinics.

"The storm surge is what really got us," Coviello said. "The wind and the rain was something we could handle a lot better - but this time, the storm surge really affected those low-lying areas."

Telehealth, mobile units and backup power systems allowed many facilities to remain operational or quickly return to service. However, despite these healthcare facilities coming out largely unscathed, many staff members are struggling to recover from personal losses, while still being called to serve their communities.

Today the nation honors the "drum major for peace" - the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The civil rights leader committed his life to equal treatment for jobs and education using non-violent protests.

Celebrations of King's life through plays, lectures, and other activities are happening throughout Indiana.

Jody Heaston is the state's Department of Natural Resources Indiana State Park volunteer coordinator. She suggested another option as an example of giving back to the community.

"On Martin Luther King Day, DNR properties are looking for people to be a volunteer," said Heaston. "People can come out to our properties today, walk our trails, walk around our lakes, pick up sticks and litter if they would like to. It's a day on, not a day off."

Heaston said volunteering is self-directed. She added that people can show up and hit the trails with a broom or shovel to clear away trash or sticks, and clear picnic areas and shelters of snow.

If you're interested, find the park of your choice on the IDNR website. The Indiana State Parks system manages 24 parks and eight reservoirs.

King believed community service promoted unity, addressed social issues, and uplifted neighborhoods - ways he viewed as avenues to change.

Heaston encouraged families to come out and work as a team on the MLK Jr. Day of service.

"We will find something for individuals, families, groups, civic groups, youth groups, businesses," said Heaston. "We'll find something for you to do."

Park staff accept volunteers during park hours from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. throughout the year.

The DNR says volunteer efforts are most productive during daylight hours, which are ideal for taking scenic photos for social media.

And if cold temperatures are stopping you, Heaston said sign up now to donate time when the weather warms up.

The Department of the Interior recently announced the largest single investment in local parks in the communities across the country and two Maryland cities will benefit from it.

Frederick, Maryland, received a $1 million grant from the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program for its Hill Street Park. The park is currently undergoing a renovation.

Bob Smith, deputy director of parks and recreation for the City of Frederick, said the skate park, which was built in 2004, will be the main beneficiary of the federal grant.

"It is entirely concrete," Smith pointed out. "In the mid-Atlantic region, we know concrete doesn't fare very well during the winter sometimes, with the freeze and thaw. The park is in disrepair. It does need a major renovation."

The grant will fund more than 50 projects across 24 states with more than $250 million, the single largest investment ever from the program. The city of Baltimore also received a nearly $1.4 million grant for the Baltimore Greenway Trail Network.

The grant is part of the Biden administration's America the Beautiful Initiative, a locally led effort to address climate issues, improve access to the outdoors and strengthen the economy. Smith hopes to have the design of the park renovations finalized by the middle of 2025. Other parts of the park include a basketball court, two multipurpose fields, two in-line rinks, a playground, pavilion and walking paths.

Smith emphasized it will be a major part of the community, once all parts of the park are finished.

"Certainly hope that the community will be able to enjoy the upgraded amenities," Smith added. "It will be a heavily used community park, neighborhood park. The revitalized park, once completed in its entirety, will be a gem for the community there."

In December, the Biden administration announced another grant opportunity totaling an estimated $450 million over the next five years.


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Many towns and nonprofit groups probably have ideas about how to improve their communities and now, there is a chance to get funding for projects.

The AARP Community Challenge grant program looks for quick-action projects to make neighborhoods more livable, especially for people age 50 and over. Now in its ninth year, the grant program encourages thinking about ways to better livability by improving public spaces, transportation, housing or digital literacy, to name a few.

Todd Stubbendieck, state director of AARP Nebraska, said they have seen requests for projects in excess of $20,000 but also for as little as a few hundred.

"It's oftentimes less about the money than sort of the impact of the project," Stubbendieck explained. "Sometimes a couple hundred dollars can be a high, high-impact project for a particular community."

The application period has just started for this year's grants, and is open until March 5. Grant winners will have until mid-December to finish their projects.

While the grants often help people over 50 in small or rural communities, Stubbendieck pointed out they have also made a big impact in Nebraska's urban areas, in ways that might not be obvious when thinking about community service grants.

"We funded a project with the City of Omaha that did two traffic-calming safety pedestrian projects at places where there had been pedestrian accidents in the past," Stubbendieck noted.

Other past grants have funded a digital literacy project to help seniors in Lincoln learn basic digital skills and a project in the town of Holdrege, population 5,500, to transform an abandoned lot into a vibrant public gathering place.