Sandy Good

Daily Point of Light # 1043 Feb 2, 1998

After receiving a B.S. in Nursing in 1976 from the University of Pittsburgh, Sandy Good received a M.S. in 1979 as a pediatric specialist from the University of Rochester, where she was invited to join the faculty. Mrs. Good declined the offer, however, and moved to Appalachia to provide community nursing. For the next 13 years, she provided home health nursing in rural Appalachia, for a salary of about $1,000 month. During this period, Mrs. Good also provided health screening of elementary school children, served as a preceptor for Eastern Kentucky University nursing students needing field experience in community health, was a volunteer trainer for a local hospice and taught nursing students in various outreach locations outside of Louisville.

In 1994, Vanderbilt University's Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker program (MIHOW), was awarded a grant from the Corporation for National Service to provide VISTA Volunteers to start new MIHOW programs. One targeted area was east Kentucky. Mrs. Good was immediately approached about working with this program.

Mrs. Good signed on as a VISTA worker, serving until mid-1995. She now directs Hazard's MIHOW home visiting program; a community-based, low-cost intervention aimed at improving family health and child development for low-income rural families. In 1996, Mrs. Good established a MIHOW home visiting program, recruiting and training two community mothers who provide a non-judgmental listening ear and work to improve parenting skills through parenting education and parent support groups. The number of volunteers has grown to more than 30.

In 1995, Mrs. Good opened a Baby Pantry. The Baby Pantry has provided more than 275 low-income families with clothing, diapers, baby food and formula, beds, cribs, high chairs and car seats. Mrs. Good went on to purchase a program site with personal moneys to identify and better serve the needs of low-income families.

In the span of three years, Sandy Good has developed a thriving maternal-infant health outreach effort and provided service to those in need.


jaytennier