#OutreachAllStars Meet Reesa Reonal

Motivated to connect with Newcastle community members, Reesa Reonal, Community Health Facilitator at Valley’s Newcastle Clinic, didn’t waste any time getting involved in Valley’s community outreach program after she joined the clinic last year. She not only volunteers for many community events, she also coordinates the clinic’s outreach efforts and encourages her colleagues to volunteer. In this past year alone, Reesa volunteered at the Polynesian Festival, helped coordinate YMCA Healthy Kids Day activities for her clinic, and recruited clinic staff to participate in the annual Newcastle Days Festival. More recently she signed up to be Newcastle Clinic’s Heart Walk Team Coach and is collaborating on a project to host a geocache site at the clinic.

One of Reesa’s personal goals is to make Valley’s presence known in the community, while also making the patient experience a personal one. “I think they appreciate the fact that I’m able to recognize them outside the clinic,” she says about the Newcastle patients. Since a lot of her work is done over the phone she appreciates being able to put a face with a name and believes getting to know the patients better makes clinic staff more approachable for patients. In addition to the opportunity to interact with patients outside of the clinic, Reesa utilizes community events to network with other community services that may be of use to Newcastle patients.

Reesa is one of 20 grandchildren in her family. When she isn’t working she can usually be found enjoying time with her brother and cousins. She loves to eat and try new and interesting restaurants, so she especially enjoys when her family from California is in town and she gets to explore new cuisines. While she enjoys performing an occasional karaoke number, her real talent is in shoe shopping—she estimates she could wear a different pair of shoes each day of the month!