Topic: Social Impact

While many law enforcement officers are issued duty gear and armor by their agency at no personal cost, there are thousands of officers who work in dangerous environments without the benefit of ballistic vests or other equipment that allow them to do their jobs safely and effectively.

Many times, it is the small-town officer or those working in agencies with limited budgets that must purchase their own equipment or be forced to go without. But one company doesn’t want to see the officers going without protective gear.

“We are a small department and budget restraints prevent us from equipping our officers with the latest safety equipment,” said Randall, a police officer from a small town in Arkansas. “We had an officer killed here in 1997. A vest then might have saved his life.”

Taking action, Acuity International, a leading provider of professional services for the U.S. government and commercial clients worldwide, is donating a variety of law enforcement equipment to a Tennessee-based non-profit as well as law enforcement agencies throughout the South.

“Vest for Life”

Many law enforcement officers are provided new ballistic vests by their agency every five years because most manufacturers of ballistic armor set five years as the limit to how long they will warranty their product. However, while the manufacturer’s warranty may be expired, the vest can still effectively protect officers who would not otherwise have one.

Acuity recently contributed operationally effective bulletproof vests, helmets, and armored plates to St. Michael’s Shield Project. St. Michael’s Shield Project is a non-profit based out of Knoxville that tests and supplies armor to U.S. law enforcement professionals whose organizations cannot afford to supply them.

“We are grateful to Acuity for supporting our mission to protect those who protect us,” said St. Michael’s Shield Project Director, Commander Doug Kiser. “Through the efforts of a small cadre of volunteers and other supporters, thousands of ballistic vests have been given out and lives have been saved.”

The Essentials

In addition to providing hard and soft armor to St. Michael’s Shield Project, Acuity has donated handcuffs, flashlights and batons to Lenoir City Police Department in Tennessee and Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

“Like most law enforcement agencies in the United States, annual operating budgets are limited,” stated Commander Andrew Walters from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. “Acuity’s donation of equipment to our agency allows us to use funds normally allocated for supplies and training to support other important initiatives for our community.”

“We are honored to support the officers that selflessly risk their lives protecting us,” said Acuity CEO, Bob Stalick. “Our goal is to save lives and prevent families from enduring the tragedy of losing a loved one.” Stalick encourages other companies with similar resources to make donations to St. Michael’s Shield Project and small police departments in their area.

How to Help

St. Michael’s Shield Project is supported financially through individual donors, churches and businesses. If you or your company would like to help distribute free ballistic vests and other armor to law enforcement professionals in need, you can make a tax-deductible donation to The St. Michael’s Shield Project, Inc. (Tax ID: 83-1874520), which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

To learn how your company or organization can make an in-kind contribution, please contact St. Michael’s Shield Project Director, Doug Kiser at cmdrkiser@comcast.net or a local law enforcement agency near you.

Company Continues to Give Back to Iraqi Communities Through AUIS’ “We Share the Future” Scholarship Campaign

Acuity International announced today its intention to commit an initial $250,000 toward a new scholarship campaign with the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS). The campaign, called “We Share the Future,” will raise money to provide students from diverse communities across Iraq with access to higher education. AUIS students majoring in Engineering and Medical Laboratory Sciences who have completed one to two years of undergraduate study will be eligible for scholarships.

Acuity, which has had a long-standing presence in Iraq with its subsidiaries Sallyport, Janus Global Operations, and Comprehensive Health Services, is the first company to fund the scholarship program with several companies in the region expected to follow its lead. Acuity has previously donated to similar initiatives, including school supply drives and a school renovation project funded and managed by Sallyport.

Acuity CEO Bob Stalick said, “The new scholarship program is another way we can give back to the people of Iraq, where we have worked for many years and have established deep relationships and a respect for the people.” He noted that to help build a secure and prosperous Iraq, it is critical for the next generation to have the academic and technological background, as well as the critical thinking skills and the collaborative mindset needed to grow.

“Recipients of the scholarships not only have their lives change, but their families’ lives change for the better,” according to AUIS President, Bruce Walker Ferguson. “The investment in an educated workforce from corporate community support is key to enabling AUIS to attract students from diverse backgrounds and creates a powerful engine both for student success and for the country’s economic growth, social benefit, and regional security,” Ferguson said. He added that, “Having corporations working in Iraq, like Sallyport and Janus (part of the Acuity family), partner with the University provides job prospects for AUIS students upon graduation.”

Companies working in the Middle East region interested in supporting the education of Iraq’s future leaders, can join Acuity and help grow the AUIS scholarship campaign by contacting AUIS VP Advancement Liza O’Connor-Stroud (US) at liza.oconnor@auis.edu.krd.

About American University of Iraq, Sulaimani

American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) is the first non-governmental, not-for-profit, American-style university in Iraq. Founded in 2007 and operated for the public benefit, it is also the first non-governmental university in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to be accredited by both the federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government. The only certified member in Iraq of the Association of American International Colleges and Universities, (AAICU), the University welcomes students from diverse communities throughout Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. For more information, visit http://auis.edu.krd/.

When the nation’s largest public health care system, NYC Health + Hospitals, late last year braced for another COVID-19 onslaught, they turned to Acuity — a trusted partner — to deliver medical staff reinforcements across New York City to help manage a forecasted wave of winter infections.

In December, Acuity mobilized a team to stand up a turnkey medical support operation in New York — casting a recruiting net across the nation to rapidly enlist, vet, certify and credential professionals who could be flown to the city and deployed across a dozen hospitals in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

“We are augmenting New York City H+H hospitals for the COVID response,” said David Franco, Acuity assistant project manager.

The mission encompasses three tasks: providing medical staff — mostly nurses and respiratory therapists to municipal hospitals; delivering licensed clinical social workers to support the operation of hotels converted as isolation facilities to help curb coronavirus spread; and surging pharmacists and clerical workers to assist with vaccine distribution.

The company combines holistic, organic capabilities with deep expertise, decades of experience and a record of innovation in supporting customers with large, complex projects — including complicated challenges requiring immediate solutions.

It’s operations like these that can get set up quickly, anytime, anywhere.

This is Acuity’s second support mission in New York. In early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Acuity deployed 500 medical personnel and established within a week a temporary 460-bed medical facility on the grounds of the U.S. Tennis Open at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens.

Back again, Acuity is wielding its logistics expertise, information technology prowess and medical know-how as well as a nimbleness to respond to evolving client needs.

In the basement of a hotel in Long Island City, a Queens neighborhood two subway stops from Manhattan, a small Acuity team set up a staging base to onboard more than 1,000 personnel, fitting them with personal protective equipment, conducting drug testing, providing HIPAA training, badging and credentialing for NYC H+H facilities.

Every new mission can bring a new challenge, even for Acuity — which both builds and staffs hospitals around the world. In Queens, the Acuity team worked closely with client requirements to ensure all employees met a high standard of credentialing. In the end, it was teamwork that mattered most.

“We had to truly learn,” said Megan Riedy, Acuity’s chief nurse. “And I think this particular team here in New York got really great at being very flexible. Because we picked up on a plan today, it might not be the plan tomorrow, and said, ‘That’s okay, we’ll flex with it.’”

To provide the client full transparency and confidence about backgrounds, licensing, medical records and more of all new staff, the Acuity team built on-the-fly new IT tools — constructing a tailored database with more than 40,000 elements. This gave NYC H&H and Acuity leadership “an atomic-level view” of all medical and administrative data associated with the staffing mission, said Kevin Wood, Acuity data manager.

The Acuity team also found creative ways to execute the mission, such as establishing liaison officials in each borough — an arrangement that was originally meant to support Acuity staff but also delivered the unexpected benefit of improving understanding of NYC H+H operations.

“That’s invaluable,” said Jim Hill, project manager. “That’s something that other companies don’t have.”

Hill said a key discriminator in the mission is not only Acuity’s high-quality staff that deliver excellence, but also compassion brought to the task.

“The spirit of the mission is that we’re helping people,” said Hill, who draws on his experience as a former history teacher to put Acuity’s pandemic-support effort in context of the last global health catastrophe: the 1918 Spanish Influenza.

“You look back at those black and white photographs and they’re all walking around with masks like we are right now, and it was horrible,” said Hill. “And we’re going through another tragedy like this globally — and this city needs our help. That’s why we’re here.”

Acuity International recently donated more than 15,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) items to organizations in Florida and Texas. The donations, which included face shields, infrared thermometers, disinfectant cleaner, hand sanitizing wipes, and goggles, were made to Sharing Center of Central Brevard in Rockledge, Fla.; Valley Regional Medical Center (VRMC) in Brownsville, Texas; Valley Baptist Medical Center (VBMC) in Harlingen, Texas; and a medical facility that provides community outreach in El Paso, Texas.

“Your gift of personal protective equipment has already made an impact to those in need,” said David Brubaker, President & CEO of Sharing Center of Central Brevard. “I would like to personally thank you for making our work possible. Your kindness greatly supports our emergency basic needs programs and provides assistance and guidance to those in our community who are struggling to obtain life’s most basic needs.”

As one of the nation’s leading occupational health and wellness providers, Acuity offers flexible and customizable health services and on-site medical capabilities to help businesses and industries meet their regulatory compliance requirements, manage periodic medical exams, and facilitate health certification testing. Acuity provides occupational medical support and exam management services throughout the United States, including COVID-19 testing and screening, return-to-work services, and contact-tracing programs to help businesses manage and maintain healthy workforces. For additional information about these nationwide programs, and Acuity’s on-site mobile medical services and occupational health exams in Florida, please email medicalmgtsolutions@acuityinternational.com.

Employees provide responsive medical care around the world, often to areas challenged by conflict, geography and geopolitics. Advanced healthcare services include managing and staffing on-site health clinics and hospitals and are customized to meet the unique needs of U.S. government and military personnel, contractors, third-country nationals, local civilians, and coalition forces.

“As we work toward growing into Acuity this fall, the company is planning further corporate social responsibility initiatives to make real differences globally,” Stalick said. “We welcome partnering with other companies that align with our values of service in the areas of global missions, advanced technology and advanced medical.”