50 + 1 Anniversary: A Season to Remember

In the year of our founding, 1971, the motto of the Lynn Community Health Center was “Health is a community affair.” 50 years later, we remain true to our roots. 

Thank you to all who participated in and made possible these notable events of our 50 + 1 season of celebration. 

50 + 1 Anniversary Gala: Thank you for a wonderful evening!

We were thrilled to celebrate Lynn Community Health Center’s 50 + 1 Anniversary Gala at the Peabody Essex Museum on Friday, April 29th, 2022. Thank you to our presenting sponsors, Cambridge Savings Bank, as well as the Demakes Families and Old Neighborhood Foods.

Thank you also to our honoree Reverend Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, our EmCee Carolina Trujillo, and our extraordinary Doctor / Patient Duo Dr. Elizabeth Quinn and Megan!

Thank you to our Gala Committee Co-Chairs Magnolia C. and David Solimine Jr., and to so many more who contributed to this event.

Many years in the making (thanks COVID!), this Gala event was one for the history books as we celebrate our past work and eagerly look forward to the years to come.

Celebrating 50 + 1 Years of Lynn Community Health Center

Since 1971, Lynn Community Health Center has been providing excellent health care to the city of Lynn.

50 + 1 Anniversary Gala

Thank you to our sponsors, guests, community members, and as always, thank you to our extraordinary staff for your dedication, compassion, and leadership.

We are grateful for your ongoing support and dedication to the Lynn Community Health Center. The work we do is steeped in the precepts of opportunity for all. We acknowledge that we all live in pain and, as Rabbi Heschel so insightfully stated, “few are guilty, but all are responsible.” At LCHC, we consider it our responsibility to mitigate the pain with which our patients, our employees, and our community is confronted daily.

We are living through a very particular moment in our society. The fears of today are different than two years ago, pre-pandemic. There is an increasing fear and frustration that the status quo is operating mostly for people with education and resources, and that the system is not actually set up to allow people a reliable way out of poverty. There is also an explicitly stated concern that normally trusted institutions, such as hospitals, businesses, education institutions, government, law enforcement and communities of faith have proven themselves incapable of addressing the challenges of anomie and providing clear paths forward. Lastly, there is anxiety that members of our community can hold down two jobs and still struggle to provide for their family, while doubting the outcome of the fight to ensure that their children are not condemned to a similarly bleak future.

From my vantage point however, the plethora of challenges presents unique and endless opportunities to strengthen LCHC partnerships and become an even stronger community resource in Lynn for improved childhoods, more positive engagement in achieving healthcare goals, the elimination of food insecurity and the strengthening of public health. With the coming transformation of the payment model in primary care, the Health Center can be more directly involved in empowering patients to become true agents of change in their lives.

There is a true passion in the community and amongst the staff at the Lynn Community Health Center, in pushing for a society with an organizing set of principles that works for everybody. There is also greater attention being paid to how we as a growing healthcare institution approach old standards and new projects alike, to be aware of inclusion and of spreading benefits beyond our own direct circles. The work we do at the Health Center is particularly centered on finding and serving those that are at risk of falling between the cracks.

On a philosophical level, the Health Center leadership is committed to delivering on the promise that we as an American society have both promised and expect for ourselves: if you work hard in the pursuit of your dreams, if you follow the rules, there will be a system that has the resources and the commitment to fairness that enable you to achieve them. At the Health Center, this is reflected in our commitment to mental health access and treatment, to substance use disorder treatment, to racial equity in health care, to a strong relationship with our employee union SEIU 1199, and to investment in our entire workforce.

The last 50 years has seen the Health Center deliver on its promise of providing integrated mental health, primary care, dental and vision services, at a high quality, regardless of ability to pay. With your support as the wind at our back and your involvement as the floor beneath our feet, Lynn Community Health Center will attain even greater achievements in the next 50 years.

Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, MBA
Chief Executive Officer

Listen to Dr. Kiame Mahaniah and Actor / Writer Jason Mantzoukas, son of our founder Bill Mantzoukas, share discuss the facets and complexities of Lynn Community Health Center.

Building the Plane as we Fly: Lessons Learned from COVID – 19

Crystallization of Values: Embracing the Mantle of Leadership

Closing the Loop: Healthcare that Happens in Schools

Treating Trauma, Treating Pain: Substance Use Disorder Programs at LCHC