“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

 ~Margaret Wheatley,

“In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 opportunities to make a positive impact.”

~Les Brown,

We are doing something a bit different with our First Fridays space this month.  Many of you are familiar with Randy Runyon, Director of Special Projects.  Randy has been a prominent figure in the fight against poverty, spending more than 35 years working with Community Health Centers and community development issues all across Ohio.  He led the charge in the early days to grow Valley View Health Centers from a very small family planning clinic to the vital community resource it is today.  He also served as President & CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Health Clinics for 13 years, and then returned to his roots to lead behavioral health expansion and accreditation efforts for Valley View.  In March 2024, Randy was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Community Health Clinics in recognition of his vision, dedication, and commitment to health equity.  Now, as Randy looks towards retirement at the end of June, we asked him to share with us some parting words on the work he is so passionate about.

From Randy Runyon…

I have been asked to write this as a guest columnist for First Friday. Even though I currently serve as the Director of Special Projects for Valley View Health Center, I once had the privilege as serving as Executive Director of the agency from 1978 to 1988.  My current job is in fact my third stint as an agency employee. My first time was from 1975-88 and ended when I was appointed as the first Director of Governors Office of Appalachia by Ohio Governor Richard Celeste. When his term ended, I returned to CAC as the agency planner and ultimately served as the Assistant Executive Director for Health. I then left CAC for the second time to serve as the CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) returning once again in 2023.

My reflections on my 35 years of employment at CAC is what a tremendous contribution the agency, the Governing Board and CAC employees have made to Pike County and to southern Ohio!  Each year the agency has been in operation has resulted in expanded services to residents of the area.  In the areas of transportation, health care, food security, business development, senior services, housing and energy, employment and training and community service, the agency has always been a leader not just regionally but across Ohio.

But in addition to service provision, I would say the greatest contributions CAC has made has been the dedication to community involvement, the commitment to positive change and willingness to challenge the status quo.

On this, the agency’s 60 year anniversary I can state without hesitation, that the CAC has improved the life of thousands of residents, and my fondest hope is that it will continue to do so for another 60 years!

 I am retiring from Community Action at the end of June and would like to thank Keith for the opportunity to work once again for the agency and thank his father, Bob (posthumously) for hiring me the first time around.

Randy Runyon

Thank you, Randy, for giving of yourself for so many years.  Thank you for fighting the good fight all across Ohio and in the trenches of southern Ohio.  And thank you for inspiring countless others to do the same! We are all better because of your dedication and passion.