The Coalition Cornerstone

In life, there those are chance encounters, which forge monumental relationships that greatly affect our destiny. Like many Americans, I have been very fortunate to cross paths with people whom have become mentors, friends, colleagues, and leaders. What’s striking about Operation Medical Libraries is that those chance encounters happen every minute of everyday. It’s like a movie, where in the midst of conversation, a name passes in conversation, which introduces a new character into the plotline. The network of OML consists of relationships our team has encountered throughout our individual lifetimes, and it’s as if we’ve been wired with a mission switch, that now we’ve been asked to activate.

I can’t begin to tell you how amazing things are developing. It is clear that the world not only understands the need to assist in building healthcare in war-torn regions, but they want to be a part of the change!

I met with Assemblyman Cook on July 2nd to go over the action items he suggested at our last meeting, as well as provide him with a progress report. Thankfully, he again expressed a tremendous amount of support for our program. Legislatures are paid to listen to their constituents, but not only am I not in Assemblyman Cook’s district, but you can tell he has a genuine affinity for OML. He provided me with another list of action items (which Valerie and I began to execute immediately) and we ended our meeting with his signature firm handshake. I do have to mention that I was five minutes early this time around and although there were no tears cascading, a thick fog settled between my lids.

So now we’re racing right along and working around the clock to keep up with the demand. There are no set hours associated with the words “passion” and “global”. Just like any other avenue in life, we’ve hit roadblocks along the way, but the detours introduced us to some alternative routes that might prove to be more fruitful in the end. We’re working on some exciting developments, to which we will continue to keep you in the loop.

In the meantime, I can tell you that the Islamic Society of Orange County is a new proud partner! The Military has requested Medical Books written in Arabic, Farsi and Dari, so they’ll be assisting us in obtaining these books. I have a meeting with Bill Campbell (Orange County Board of Supervisors) on July 30, 2008 to promote OML and a meeting in Sacramento on August 15 with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This is an amazing time for all of us and we couldn’t do any of it without your support!!! ...Heather Anne Cadarette