Original founder of the Cancer Center for Healthy Living, the late Barbara Walvoord, cutting the ribbon at the grand opening.
By Andrea Parker, Executive Director & Patti Bash, Founder
The Hult Center for Healthy Living is one of the best kept secrets in Peoria. As Hult Center celebrates their 25th Anniversary this year, take the time to educate yourself on the past and present of the Hult Center.
Do you know how the Center got its start? Did you know they now have four pillar focus areas — youth health education, cancer services, senior education, and mental health?
The Past
Patti Bash, a nurse from Fort Wayne, Indiana, had served as a founding board member of a health education center before her and her husband, Dr. Stephen Bash, pediatric cardiologist, decided to move to Peoria, Illinois, bringing the concept of a ‘health education center’ with them.
Once settled into Peoria, Patti presented to the Peoria Medical Society Alliance and the “Forward Peoria” group. The group gave their full support and voted to adopt the proposal and establish a health education center here in Peoria.
In preparation for resurrecting the health education center, a needs survey was conducted within area schools and churches within a hundred mile radius of Peoria. The findings of the survey supported the need for a comprehensive health education program which would supplement the current health education curriculum in area schools.
To help the community learn about this health education concept, Dr. Steve and Patti Bash and Dr. Richard and Ande Lister began hosting community leaders in their homes to share information about the McMillen Center of Fort Wayne, Indiana, which the Peoria center would be modeled after.
In September 1986, Dr. Lister and Patti presented to the Peoria City Council, which prompted 27 community leaders to take a charter bus to Fort Wayne, Indiana to experience the McMillen Center in action.
From that a Board of Directors was formed; members of the board included Patti Bash, President, Dr. Joan Sattler, Vice President, Terry Machetti, Treasurer, Dr. Gerald Brookhart, Secretary and Mr. Rutherford.
In January 1987, the Hult Health Education Center was incorporated as a not-for-profit.
In September 1989, Proctor Hospital donated 3.8 acres on their hospital campus grounds, which today remains the address of the Hult Center for Healthy Living at 5215 North Knoxville Avenue. The Proctor Foundation decided that Mr. Marvin Hult, a local businessman, would be the name benefactor for the facility.
On October 28, 1990, the newly constructed health education center opened its doors to the public as the Marvin Hult Health Education Center, and classes began the following January 1991. At that time, the Hult Center was one of only 12 youth health education center in the United States and today, that number has grown to over 30.
The Present
What started as the Hult Health Education Center has grown to encompass other healthy initiatives. In April 2011, the Cancer Center for Healthy Living (CCHL) merged with the Hult Center, and the name was changed to reflect the new relationship — Hult Center for Healthy Living. With this new relationship, the CCHL was able to continue their much-needed services in the community. The palliative services, including cancer massage, yoga, meditation, and reflexology, are all provided on-site at the Hult Center, and offered at no cost to those who are currently receiving cancer treatment, to cancer survivors, and their caregivers. The Hult Center also employs two registered dieticians to address digestive, oral, and other dietary and nutritional needs that are a result of disruption by cancer and/or the treatments. Anchoring the team is a behavioral health counselor, who connects with each newly diagnosed patient. This Hult Center team of three is housed at Illinois CancerCare on Route 91 in Peoria.
In September 2013, the Mental Health Association of Illinois Valley joined the Hult Center, as well. Again, this allowed services that had been historically offered in the community to continue. The most recognized of these programs may be Whitney’s Walk — an annual walk held the last Saturday of July since 2004, in honor of Whitney Grotts, who took her own young life. Whitney’s parents, Earl and Karen Grotts, remain the champions of this event and in the community, helping to educate others and bring awareness about suicide prevention. They were recipients of the Volunteers of the Year award this past April at Hult’s Annual Spirit of Living dinner.
The most recent addition to the Hult Center came in January 2014, with ENCORE — a free program focused on the senior population 55 yrs+, and offers health education programs, exercise, will and trust planning, and the ever popular iPad and smartphone classes, to name a few. This program helps the senior population make healthy decisions, and be healthier as they age.
Over the last 20 years, there have been many leaders who have been at the helm of the Hult Center Board: Patti Bash, Sally Snyder, Joan Sattler, the late Michael McCord, the late Lynn Atterbury, Phillip Walker, Karen Stumpe, Brenda Dumbar, Christine Zak-Edmonds, and Margaret Swanson. The most recent to join the list are Jonathan Williams as Immediate Past Chairman, and current Chairman, Stacy Borho. The Hult Center Board of Directors is made of 28 members, with representation from the three former agencies.
Fundraising Events
To help support the operating budget of the Hult Center, fundraisers have played a crucial role. The annual Lobster Roast has, for 18 years, helped provide funds to support programs. With the addition of the Cancer Center for Healthy Living, these fundraising events were added: the Seneca Golf Classic, in memory of Mike Seneca, who lost his battle to cancer; Spirit of Living dinner, founded by the daughters of the late Dr. Theresa Falcon-Cullinan; and Uncorked! — an annual wine, craft beer, and hors d’oeuvres tasting event. With the addition of Mental Health American, the aforementioned Whitney’s Walk supports depression awareness and suicide prevention programs, such as Signs of Suicide and Youth Mental Health Matters.
The Hult Center for Healthy Living is a relatively small 501(c)3 and United Way partner agency, but its impact in the community and surrounding area is large. The Center started with $40K in grant funding, and has grown today to almost $300K in grant funding, and offers comprehensive health education to people of all ages.
Today, the center serves over 60,000 people each year, including more than 45,000 students Pre-K through 12th grade.
The Hult Center for Healthy Living continues to fulfill its mission of “empowering people to live healthier lives.” To learn more about the Hult Center for Healthy Living, visit www.hulthealthy.org, like us on Facebook, or stop in for a tour!