Ask June Britt and she’ll tell you her personal theme song is the inspiring hymn, “If I Can Help Somebody, Then My Living Will Not Be in Vain.” That’s exactly what she gets to do in her job as a FaithHealthNC Connector. She unites patients with volunteers and churches to make the journey through health challenges a little easier, whether it’s a brief hospitalization or a long-term illness. A dynamic partnership between faith communities, health systems and other healthcare providers, FaithHealthNC focuses on improving health–getting patients to the right place at the right time, ready to be treated and never alone. And June Britt loves it. “As far back as I remember, my mother and grandmother helped people,” she mused. “They prepared meals, went to homes and prayed, visited hospitals. That’s an innate thing for me, that’s what I’m supposed to do. As a FaithHealth Connector, I help people get back on their feet with the resources they need.”
A former ombudsman with the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as Education Services, she’s expert at helping people–whether it’s bagging groceries in church food pantries for delivery to patients, meeting with volunteers about assignments, or arranging transportation, clothing and housing for what she calls “our neighbors.” One of her first “neighbors” on the job was a young man with cancer who needed transportation from Lexington to Winston-Salem for chemotherapy and radiation. “It was a great coming together of churches and volunteers to do what God said to do,” she said “We helped our neighbor by transporting him back and forth to treatment twice a week for close to six months.”
For June, being a Connector is more than a job; it’s her calling. “God placed me in this, enabled me, blessed me and showed me favor to go out and help others,” she explained. “We’re here to encourage people and let them know somebody loves them. We remind them not to give up, to have the trust, hope and courage to keep going. People can do it; they just need a little help sometimes.”
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. –Psalm 139
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. –John 13:34
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. –1 Peter 3:8