Philippine Nurses Association of Colorado

The Inspiration

                  In 2002, the class of 1977 from the University of Santo Tomas, College of Nursing had their reunion in San Diego California.  Edith Pasion reunited with classmate Peter ( Pete )  Reuben Calixto who was President of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) from 2001-2002. He was excited about the work being done by the organization addressing the needs of the Filipino American nurses. He was particularly proud of two members of the class of 1977 who were part of two state chapter formations, Gregoria Francia Mateo of Greater Kansas City and Nelia Acorda Peterson of Arizona. Pete suggested that Edith create a chapter in Colorado. Edith at that time was very active in the Filipino American and the Asian community in the Metro Denver area and the thought of adding another organization to her list of volunteer work was far from her mind.

                  2004 brought Edith Pasion back to Kansas City, her first home in the United States as a working visa nurse sponsored by the University Of Osteopathic Medicine Of Kansas City. In Kansas City, Edith was reintroduced to the PNAA through the chapter activities of the Greater Kansas City. The Greater Kansas City chapter was hosting the 2005 national convention of the PNAA. Ernie and Beth Rosas, Alice Alcazaren, Amy Valera, Helen Austria, Vicky Herrera had amazing stories about their PNAA experiences, especially the talent show where the creative talents of the members and their spouses had  gathered them the reputation of formidable  competitors in the yearly talent completion of the annual PNAA convention. The chapter conducts a yearly medical mission group to the Philippines in cooperation with the Greater Kansas City Medical Association. Observing and interacting with this group made Edith realize how she missed this kind of camaraderie with her fellow Filipino American nurses and she was impressed by the valuable medical service they provide to the community and the underserved countrymen back in the Philippines. This experience inspired Edith to hope that, someday, there would be a similar organization in Colorado.

Planning and Formation

                  Through Edith’s involvement in the community as President of the Philippine American Society of Colorado and Co-Chairperson of the Aurora Asian Pacific Community Partnership, she started meeting more Filipino American nurses. She was also introduced to Uplift International, the yearly medical mission to the Philippines that performs cleft lip and cleft surgical repair to the poor children in the Philippines. It was a disheartening experience for Edith to learn that the composition of the medical mission did not include any Filipino nurse. This reignited her desire to form a chapter of the PNAA in Colorado. There was a doubt that there might not be enough nurses to meet the goal of 20 members, however the improved Colorado economy and increased immigration of Filipino Americans saw the rise in numbers of Filipino American nurses in CO.  Leyra Pelicano Goers joined Edith in the Intensive Care Unit at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in 2004 and started talking about the possibility of a PNAA chapter in Colorado. Leyra came from El Paso, Texas and was the Secretary of the chapter prior to transferring to Colorado.  Leyra’s previous experience with the El Paso chapter of PNAA and her enthusiasm provided Edith with the inspiration in getting serious in forming a chapter of PNAA. Pete Calixto was contacted by Edith to provide guidance in chapter formation.

                  An exploratory meeting was held on November 19, 2005 at Edith’s residence in Centennial to gauge the interest of the potential members for chapter formation. In attendance were Edith Pasion, Leyra Pelicano Goers, Imee Guardiano, Charina Butler, Medie Lumanlan, Glorie Javier, Dynah Pallarca, Melissa Nasser, Sigrid Bressler and Abeth Obervey. The group consensus was to form a chapter and assigned Leyra to draft the constitution and bylaws using the El Paso’s template.

                  January 22^nd of 2006 was the first official meeting of the Philippine Nurses Association of Colorado held in Rockridge Clubhouse in Aurora. The constitution and bylaws were ratified and the first set of Officers was elected and as follows:

                  President- Edith Pasion

                  Vice President-Imee Guardiano

                  Secretary- Leyra Pelicano Goers

                  Treasurer- Melba Canon

                  Auditor-Susan Paran

                  Public Relation Officer-Charina Butler

                  Board of Directors:

                                    Remedios Lumanlan

                                    Glorie Javier

                                    Dynah Pallarca

                                    Myra Anusencion

                                    Melissa Nasser

                  The PNACO logo was created with the input of the general membership and the ideas were incorporated and executed by Ariel Pallarca. The logo depicts the mountain peaks of Colorado and the seal of nursing. Ariel has been instrumental in creating the first version of the official website www.pnaco.org.

                  The Articles of Incorporation for Non Profit Organization were obtained from the Colorado Secretary of State in March 27^th, 2006. May 5^th of same year, the Employer Identification number was granted by the Internal Revenue Service.

                  The first inaugural event of PNACO was the dinner dance to celebrate the official launching of the organization and the induction of the members of the Executive Board. The event was held at Radisson Southeast Hotel on August 5^th of 2006 with Pete Reuben Calixto representing PNAA as the guest of honor and the inducting officer. The successful launching of the PNACO was attended by supporters of PNACO and community leaders from Asian American community.

                  On November 2, 2006, the Constitution was amended to comply with the PNAA requirement of having a President-Elect and Helen Franz was elected to fill the position.  The same year, Leyra moved to California and Marjolyn Mati-Ong accepted the position of the Secretary of the organization.

PNACO’s Acceptance to PNAA

                  On March 1st of 2007, PNACO became the 37th chapter of the Philippine Nurses Association of America under the leadership of May Mayor, the national President and Josephine Villanueva, the Western Regional Vice President. PNACO’s first participation to the regional conference was in Portland Oregon, and PNACO was assigned to host the 2009 Western regional conference.

                  The first annual Christmas celebration was held at the Tallyn’s Reach Clubhouse  December second of 2007 with National President May Mayor as special guest. May gave the presentation to the members and guests of the history, achievements and future directions of PNAA. The event was attended by friends and families of the members and leaders of several Filipino American civic organizations.

Major Accomplishments of the First Five Years

                  From the time of inception, service to community has been the number one priority of PNACO. Since the first year of existence, an annual health fair has been held in cooperation with the Colorado Asian Health Education and Promotion. Screenings in cardiovascular, pulmonary, allergy, diabetes and breast cancer were provided to the attendees and free flu shots were administered free of charge to those who avail of the screenings. Health education classes in Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Diabetes, Cardiac Risk and Management and Community CPR were provided by the PNACO members.

                  PNACO has been a planning member organization of the Multicultural Advisory Board of the Susan Komen Foundation and conducts the annual conference on Breast Health and Cultural Beliefs. The annual conference’s objective is to provide education to the underserved minority women in breast health and cancer prevention.

                  The Filipino American community launched a coordinated effort to help the victims of the Philippine’s Typhoon Ondoy. The National Federation of Filipino American Association led the fund raising and PNACO members contributed monetary and silent auction  item donations.

                  PNACO has been participating in the regional, national and international conferences sponsored by the PNAA. With limited financial resources of the organization, it was able to offer financial subsidies to the attendees to these conferences. The experience of attending the PNAA conference provides an invaluable experience to the PNACO leaders in networking, leadership training and professional growth.

                  PNACO has supported the PNAA Village of the Gawad Kalinga with the $1200 donation towards the building of a house in the village. Through the special relationship established with the Couples for Christ and the Youth for Christ in Colorado, the amount of $3300.00 that the youth raised for Gawad Kalinga was donated to the PNAA Village.

                  Years of planning and hard work culminated with the successful 2009 hosting of the 10th Western Regional Convention in Denver under the joint leadership of Past President Edith Pasion, President Helen Franz and President-Elect Grace Senger and the 2008-2010 members of the Executive Board. The two-day event was held in Marriott Cherry Creek on April 3^rd and 4^th with the theme “Inclusiveness in the Culturally Diverse Health Care Environment- the Power of Interagency Collaboration”.

                  The 10^th Western Regional Convention was the most successful among the four regional conferences of the PNAA of the year contributing almost $1000.00 to the PNAA coffer. It also brought prominent Transcultural Nurse Expert, Dr. Dula Pacquiao, as the featured speaker. The convention was attended by the 2009-2010 national President Leo Felix Jurado, President- Elect Rey Rivera, Regional Vice President Josie Villanueva and delegations from eight chapters of the Western region including Hawaii. Other prominent leaders from the national organization were in attendance including Executive Director Remedios Solarte, Education Chairperson Gloria Briones, and Treasurer Aster Vargas. The Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation was represented by President Araceli Antonio.

                  With very modest $50.00 yearly membership fee per person and $30.00 of that fee going to the national organization, PNACO is left with $20.00 per member to fund all the activities of the organization. Through sound fiscal administration, PNACO is able to maintain a healthy savings in its bank account.

The Future

 The membership of PNACO continues to strive to meet the challenges in the fulfillment of the mission of the organization, the promotion of the positive image of the Filipino American nurses and the participation of its members in community health care services. The small but dedicated and talented members remain to be the most precious resources of the organization. Under the leadership of President Grace Senger, President-Elect Marjolyn Mationg and the 2010-2012 Executive Board, PNACO is ready to meet the challenges of bringing the organization to a higher level of achievement.