Kaiser Permanente Physicians and Employees Celebrate MLK Day of Service Sprucing Up Housing for Homeless Veterans in Alameda

ALAMEDA, Ca. Jan. 20, 2014 — More than two dozen Kaiser Permanente volunteers from the East Bay painted, cleaned and spruced up housing for homeless veterans inside the old U.S. Naval station in Alameda on Monday, Jan. 20, to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.

Thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees and physicians in the Bay Area and across the country spent the day in service in schools, gardens, clinics, community centers and shelters. This is the 10th year that Kaiser Permanente has marked the day to honor Dr. King’s commitment to community service.

“Despite the differences in geography, our employees’ values and commitment to serve their communities remain the same everywhere,” said Ronald Copeland, MD, FACS, chief diversity and inclusion officer of Kaiser Permanente. “We’re proud to support this tradition of honoring Dr. King’s spirit of service by helping make our communities better places to live, work, learn and play.”

Dr. Copeland, a U.S. Air Force surgeon veteran, joined Charles E. Columbus, Chief Human Resources Officer, Kaiser Permanente, and more than two dozen volunteers to paint and clean up the bottom floor units of an apartment building at Operation Dignity, a non-profit that runs transitional housing for homeless veterans. The volunteers also weeded and raked a small flower garden, and a lawn outside the apartment building.

The project was made in partnership with HandsOn Bay Area, a non-profit that coordinates volunteer for various community service.

All told, last year more than 6,000 Kaiser Permanente employees and physicians across the country dedicated their time at 113 sites, touching an estimated 80,000 people.

For more information about Kaiser Permanente’s year-round work to improve the health of the communities they serve, visit kp.org/communitybenefit. 

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 9.1 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to kp.org/share.