Since its inception in December 1983, the Jamaica Nurses Association of Florida (JNAF) has stayed committed to its mission of helping individuals and families in need, and to support organizations with similar mission to address the needs of the poor and medically disadvantaged.
When founder, Joyce Harris-Wright gathered a few friends and associates to start the JNAF, it was to focus on assisting Jamaican nurses by easing their transition to professional life in America. She later expanded the mission to unselfishly address needs through volunteerism and support for the educational advancement of its members.
Jamaica Nurses Association of Florida Choir
Today, the JNAF is a not-for-profit organization that features a vibrant membership of volunteers from various sectors of the medical industry. Its “5 Cs” of Membership stress Commitment to service excellence, Compassion for the needs of others; Cultural diversity and awareness, Continuing education and member development, and a CAN-do attitude that “Together we CAN Achieve.”
The JNAF supporting the American Cancer Society.
“As medical and healthcare professionals and practitioners, we are naturally concerned about the health and well-being of others,” noted JNAFs President, Constance Ffrench-Harding. “In the case of the JNAF, however, we are able to take that caring attitude much further by volunteering our service to care for members of our community having the greatest needs, yet who are least able to afford the cost of their medical and healthcare needs,” she explained.
Topping the list of the JNAFs annual projects are its overseas medical missions where members travel to deep rural areas of the Caribbean and other countries, providing on-the-spot health checks and healthcare advice particularly among women and children, as well as collecting and distributing medical equipment and paraphernalia to hospitals, medical centers and other nonprofit organizations that care for the poor in the U.S. and elsewhere.
JNAF Members conduct hands-on Community Health Education.
The cultural “C” of the JNAFs focus is demonstrated in part by the highly acclaimed Jamaica Nurses Association of Florida Choir, which has the distinction of being the first known nurses choir of its kind. Members attend choir practice weekly to perfect their broad-based repertoire of classical, gospel, folk and reggae renditions.
Connie Harding, President
“This is just another way of meeting our goal of individual development and cultural awareness,” says Choir Director, Hyacinth Penso. “We learn so much by keeping abreast of trends in music, and there is much fulfillment in helping to awaken our audiences cultural and spiritual memories,” she said.
During 2008, the JNAF has embarked on a new initiative to focus on support for persons inflicted with Sickle Cell. Titled “Living Well in Spite of Sickle Cell,” the JNAFs bold, new endeavor is in support of the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association, helping to enhance awareness, and to increase screening and education about this life-threatening disease.
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