How We Got Here – A Short Story about Partnerships that help people "Succeed"

By Rick Miller

Chapter 1 – The Camp Partnership

2008 marks my 30th year of living with diabetes. Upon first contracting the disease while attending college in Massachusetts, I was fortunate to receive advice to seek care at a leading diabetes care center in Boston. It is a recognized world-wide leader in diabetes research, education and care. there I learned that success in living with diabetes could be achieved through a focus on balance. People with diabetes can achieve close to normal blood sugar levels and avoid significant long-term health issues if they balance food intake, medication when necessary (often insulin), exercise, sleep and stress. While there, I learned about a camp for children with diabetes in Charlton MA. I made a promise to myself in 1979 that I would support the Camp in some way, some day. I did not know that it would take me 23 years to “make good” on my promise.

In 2002, I decided it was time to “give back” to the camp in particular and help people with diabetes in general. I started planning to attend the summer camp as a volunteer. In preparation for the session, I thought about what I might add to an already world renowned diabetes education center. Three things hit me. First, I thought about the pride I had developed in myself for facing this 24/7/365 challenge and wanting others to share that pride in themselves. Second, I thought about how living with diabetes had helped me develop skills that I was applying in a positive way in the rest of my life. I chose to capture this philosophy in the term “Balance & Stretch”.

The concept came from my belief that, similar to the discipline and persistence required to successfully manage diabetes, true success occurs for everyone when we choose both to practice balance in all the personal challenges we face with our personal growth, with our faith, at work and school, with our families and our friends and in our community and when we choose to stretch to reach our full potential as we help others reach their full potential. Like living with diabetes, life often isn’t easy.

I began working to develop a symbol of the concept when a third idea hit me. Why not use a “Star” with its 5 points as a way of reinforcing both the 5 points for health and 5 points for life that I was advocating AND to reinforce the self esteem and pride that I wanted everyone to feel?

It also struck me that to be successful attracting people (kids particularly) to the concept it had to be “packaged” in a way to compete successfully in our branded/sound bite world where so many messages are marketed to try to get our attention. As a parent of 2 young children, it bothered me that the media was effective in influencing my kids and others to want to be what the media referred to as “stars”. Everyone knew that to get on TV, all you had to do was to eat a cockroach to get on the TV show “Fear Factor”. Particularly offensive to me was the possibility to be a “star” on the TV show “Swan” where extensive plastic surgery was offered to change and improve lives. If being a “star” was synonymous with success, we needed a new definition of a real “Star.”

It struck me that, like all parents, I had to work hard to keep my kids grounded in the reality that truly successful and remarkable people were all around them. They both knew many people who took good care of themselves, their families, were active at church, were active volunteers, coaches and always willing to help others. These were the true role models and people they should emulate. Everyone has a “Uncle Bob and a Aunt Denise” in their family or in their community who may never be on TV or have their names in the newspaper yet are the true role models for our kids to emulate. These are the real “Stars”.

The logo was finalized to symbolize a focus on balance for both health and life with its 2 colors on 2 different sides of the Star as well as stretch for both the individual and for others with the stars internal stretch marks and the semi circle surrounding the star signifying stretching for those “around us”. The symbol also attempts to capture the high self esteem that people should feel as they celebrate success as a “Star”.

In preparation for my volunteer time at camp, I also met then Director Paul Madden. Paul is simply amazing. As a successful person dealing with diabetes for over 45 years as of today himself, Paul Madden has provided decades of service to The Joslin Diabetes Center, ADA, JDRF, IDF and many other great organizations and as a result Paul certainly must know more people with diabetes than virtually any person alive. He is a thoughtful and active leader focused on improving the lives of people with diabetes.

With an understandable mix of caution and optimism about his new volunteer, Paul allowed me to attend the camp for one week that first summer. I brought hats with the Balance & Stretch logo for everyone, was allowed to act as a counselor, participated in all events and spent lots of time with the senior staff after hours where we talked a bit about Balance & Stretch. Paul welcomed me back the next summer. In 2003 I brought shirts! I should mention that this camp is the longest continually running camp for kids with diabetes in the world. This summer will be its 83rd summer!

When I showed up again in 2004, Paul’s optimism grew. First, he knew I was committed to the cause and more importantly, he saw his incredible staff of high school and college counselors using the balance & stretch language and saw it connect with a number of the campers. As an educator, Paul understood that it is all about retention for “his” kids. Balance & Stretch could be used both during camp and as a summary phrase to capture 2 weeks of diabetes education and “teachable moments” that the kids could hold on to and use until they returned to camp again the next summer. In short, Balance & Stretch was an addition to AND NOT a replacement for any element of the successful programs that camp they were already using. Paul decided to adopt Balance & Stretch as the official camp theme by the end of 2004. (Paul retired in 2004 after almost 30 years of service but his 44 year association with this benchmark of diabetes care will never be forgotten). For Paul’s bio please refer to the “Our Team” section of this site.

In 2005, new Director John Latimer took a summer to review all aspects of his new assignment and at summer’s end reaffirmed the camps intent to continue to utilize the Balance & Stretch theme because it was consistent with the education elements supported by the clinic and it helped what were now “his” kids succeed.

Chapter 2 – The Barton Center Partnership

The Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Inc. has developed an international reputation for excellence in diabetes education. The Center operates the largest independent camping and educational program in the country dedicated to children who live with diabetes and the people who care for them. The Barton Center is a year-round camp, retreat, and conference center where learning and shared experiences combine to support and motivate children and families.

In 2006, then Barton President John Maconga and newly appointed Camp Director Danielle Eid were getting ready for the upcoming year when Paul Madden and I approached them around the possibility of adding a Balance & Stretch component to their already very successful program that was celebrating its 74 year anniversary.

The Barton Center was in a position quite similar to many of the organizations we are starting partnerships with today.  They already provided world-class services, but felt that they could do more to help their program participants to retain what they learned at camp and to apply those lessons to the broader context of their lives.  Barton was faced with developing its own approach or partnering with Balance & Stretch to build on its framework and in return to help extend and strengthen it.

Barton chose to join the Balance & Stretch team because it appreciated the power of collaboration, valued the simple (and memorable) approach of the framework, respected those involved with Balance & Stretch and their commitment to supporting its development through the collection and sharing of best practices and clinical studies, and knew that there were no short-term or long-term financial costs associated with partnering with Balance & Stretch.

Barton introduced the Balance & Stretch in the summer of 2006 and used the framework to “frame” the already successful education and support components of its programs. Again, Balance & Stretch was an addition to AND NOT a replacement for any element of the successful programs that Barton was already using.  Campers and parents alike gave strong praise to the Balance & Stretch approach which added elements of fun, structure and retention to Barton’s programs.  Since then, Barton has endeavored, working collaboratively with other Balance & Stretch partners, to organize its programs and sharing of best practices around the Balance & Stretch framework to help their kids succeed.

Chapter 3 – A Commercial "Win/Win" Partnership to help people succeed

In 2006, I signed an agreement with AT-A-GLANCE brand of the MeadWestvaco Corporation to co-develop a Day Planner for kids with diabetes to be piloted during the summer at two camps in Massachusetts.  One camp agreed to run a formal study to determine if a curriculum designed around the Balance & Stretch framework working in conjunction with the AT-A-GLANCE Day Planner could be proven to show improvement in knowledge, self -efficacy, quality of life, affect, and glycemic control for the participants. On a less formal basis, The Barton Center agreed to use the Day Planner as part of its education program. In total, MeadWestvaco delivered over 1500 planners to these camps to help their kids.

Feedback to date has been overwhelmingly positive. Part of the planners design allows kids to set their own weekly goals for balance (for both health and life) and stretch (for both themselves and to help others). Setting their own goals and being accountable to themselves for their results helps these kids help themselves as they learn more about what it takes to succeed. I want to recognize and thank Jenn Caouette, Ben Clements and John Maconga for their individual contributions to these successful pilots. In fact, the study results were presented in June 2007 at the ADA Scientific Sessions in Chicago. Generally, they found that the tools helped campers show improvements in self-efficacy and knowledge, reduced negative feelings about blood glucose monitoring and made a positive difference in diabetes control. MeadWestvaco has been a wonderful partner and is now selling updated Day Planners and Success Guides and donating a portion of all sales to the Balance & Stretch Center to help us in our continuing non-profit outreach.

Chapter 4 – Personal Partnerships to help people succeed

Shortly after my first trip to camp, I decided I wanted to do more. In August of 2003, a mutual friend introduced me to actor John Ratzenberger during a dinner in New York City based on our common interests. John has a fantastic son with diabetes and has long been personally active as an enthusiastic volunteer for many great organizations that support those with diabetes. Over dinner, we began a conversation that led to an agreement to do a fundraiser for the Camp. At a later meeting with Paul Madden, John agreed to have his son spend part of a summer at the Camp as a counselor. What started out as a standard golf tournament turned into the Inaugural Joslin Diabetes Center’s Newport Under the Stars, 2 day 3 event mega fundraiser that broke all fundraising records for events in its first year. In addition to the money raised, the event set a new bar for visibility for the camp. While all this took 2 years to pull together, the primary reason for its success was Carla Tardif, president of CMT Entertainment.

Carla is an amazing woman and CMT Entertainment reflects her spirit and drive to help people succeed. In addition to an impressive list of corporate clients, her signature “Parties with a Purpose” program provides much needed assistance to non-profits in fundraising, event planning and marketing. When Carla agreed to join our Board I knew it was just a matter of time before lots more people knew about the free tools we were providing to other non profits to help them help people to succeed, consistent with the values at CMT,  it’s founder and president and my friend.

Chapter 5 – The Balance & Stretch Center Inc.

With our inaugural Board meeting in September 2006, we formally established the Balance & Stretch Center Inc. We are very grateful to The Civil Society Institute in Newton MA who has agreed to allow us to run under their 501(c)(3) until our paperwork is completely through the federal approval process. We also launched this web site www.balanceandstretch.org primarily to support our non-profit partners.

Chapter 6 – The Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA)

As we entered 2007, we were poised to take another big step forward in our mission to help people. The camps had shared their success with Balance & Stretch DECA at their Fall conference in Des Moines. In early 2007, both camps joined with the Center and DECA Board member Paul Madden in a proposal to assist DECA in 2 ways. First, DECA Secretary and Camp Joslin Director John Latimer offered to develop a web capability on the DECA website to exchange best practices utilizing the Balance & Stretch framework as the organizing methodology. Second, the Center and MeadWestvaco agreed to provide 15,000 copies of our Success Guide to camps across the country. Under the leadership of Lorne Abramson and Rocky Wilson, DECA senior leadership accepted our joint proposal and adopted our framework to support their 160 camps and 35,000 campers and staff members. I have had the good fortune to meet several of these dedicated camp leaders recently and I am pleased to report that in addition to the Success Guides, camp staffs at many camps have chosen to simply post 8 ½” X 11” copies of the Balance & Stretch framework to increase education at their camps. It is a simple and effective way to reinforce the many “teachable moments” that these camps have used to help campers for many years. We are excited about the opportunity to work with the incredible members of the DECA community who tirelessly work to help children and families challenged with diabetes. We are looking forward to participating in the Fall conference in Iowa to review progress and set a course for continued support.

Chapter 7 – The Raritan Bay Area YMCA and “Wellness Support”

Also significant in 2007, we signed our first agreement to support a nonprofit organization outside the community of  great diabetes support organizations. Here’s how it happened. Early in 2007 I met with Terry Bazarre at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton NJ. Terry was a great help in educating me about the world of nonprofits. As he learned more about the Balance & Stretch concept, he identified that it could help other organizations. He introduced me  me to Bill Lovett, a local YMCA CEO as well as a State and National YMCA Board member. Bill brought the idea to a state meeting and Steve Jobin, CEO of the Raritan Bay Area YMCA called me to learn more. As we discussed the framework, it was clear that our symbols were a perfect match to support the YMCA mission of building strong kids, strong families and strong communities, with one exception. The original version of the blue “health star” included a   point for “Insulin & Medication.” In thinking about that point after our meeting, it became clear that even those challenged with diabetes relied on more than insulin and medication. They relied on doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical firms and many other people and organizations for “wellness support”. I chose to change the point on the graphic to be more inclusive for all. Steve brought the proposal to his Board and they approved. We are excited about the opportunity to work with the YMCA program and support its mission of helping kids, families and communities succeed.

Chapter 8 – A Public School Program

In 2011, the Lawrence Massachusetts Public School system established a Type 1 Diabetes pilot program run by school nurses utilizing the MeadWestvaco/Balance & Stretch Day Planner tool. With uneven use of the tools, school RN's did report a slight improvement in A1c scores form baseline over the pilot's 10 week duration. The school plans is to resume the outreach effort in the fall.

Our challenge is clear. So to is our conviction that working through existing successful non profit organizations, we can help more people, particularly those with or trying to prevent health challenges, make better choices to live healthier and more full lives…and “succeed”.

We are excited about the future “chapters” we will write together with our partners to help more people succeed.