Published in Florida Weekly on 11/7/19

NANCY LASCHEID TO RECEIVE CIVIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

By Dave Trecker

A longtime provider of health care to Collier County’s working poor, Nancy Lascheid has been chosen to receive the Murray Hendel Civic Achievement Award for 2019. She will be honored at a ceremony in December.

Named for Mr. Hendel, a Naples icon and cofounder of the Collier Citizens Council, the award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the community.

Lascheid’s concern for indigent workers goes back many years. In 1999, she and her late husband Bill, a retired dermatologist, founded the Neighborhood Health Clinic. It grew from a three-room start-up to a $2.6 million operation today. Housed in a 28,000 square-foot building staffed by some 500 health-care volunteers, it treated over 11,000 low-income workers last year.

The current facility on Goodlette Road opened its doors in 2003 and expanded to a state-of-the-art operation earlier this year, augmenting medical treatment with lab testing, radiology and dental service.

“We’re very much a volunteer organization,” Lascheid says in speaking of the clinic’s extensive pro bono program. The $2.6 million annual budget is leveraged to some $18 million for services actually rendered.

The clinic is unique in other ways. Not a penny in government money is accepted. It’s entirely funded by local donors. When asked how she measures financial success, Lascheid says, “The return on investment is when the patient gets better.”

Altruism is also limited. From the beginning, the Lascheids decided that patients must have some skin in the game. Today those treated must be employed, low-income Collier County residents who have no health insurance or government assistance. All pay a small monthly fee. Even with those restrictions, an estimated 17,000 patients will have qualified for treatment this year.

The clinic is still very much a family affair, with daughter Leslie Lascheid now serving as CEO. She will oversee an expansion to the south, as the campus adds specialty care, social services and education in coming years.

Drawing on its remarkable success, the Clinic has attracted international attention. Examples are path-finding neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who visited and delivered a lecture, and recent Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine, Gregg Semenza, who also came and spoke.

The Murray Hendel Civic Achievement Award is the latest of many accolades Nancy Lascheid has received, including humanitarian, woman-of-the-year, outstanding citizen, and lifetime achievement honors.

Published in the Naples Daily News, 12/2/17

HONORING A LONG-TIME COMBATANT OF IDENTITY THEFT

By Dave Trecker

Who among us has not been a victim of identity fraud? Who hasn’t had their computer hacked or credit card stolen, leading to unauthorized purchases or diverted tax refunds or accessed bank accounts or stolen medical records?

Maddening, costly, a bureaucratic nightmare and sometimes financially ruinous.

Identity fraud has become one of the country’s most pervasive crimes. In 2016 the IRS received nearly half a million reports from victims. And it’s particularly troublesome in Florida, where our elderly retirees are often easy prey.

In an effort to fight the problem, a task force was formed here in 2013. Spearheaded by Mike Reagen, Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and Lydia Galton, the group drew members from organizations and businesses around the county. One of the first things the task force did was to tap Carrie Kerskie to lead the fight.

And lead it she did. Under her direction, the group brought in experts, held public forums, publicized the threat, wrote educational pieces and helped many, many victims. Thousands benefitted from Kerskie’s efforts, which are continuing today.

For her tireless work to combat identity fraud, Carrie Kerskie has been chosen to receive the inaugural Murray Hendel Civic Achievement Award. The award will be presented at a ceremony in December.

Named for Hendel, a Naples icon and outgoing president of the Collier Citizens Council, the award honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the community.

Kerskie has done that and more. Her story is a compelling one.

As head of the Kerskie Group, a private investigating firm, she began receiving calls from identity theft victims in 2006. As more people came to her for help, she immersed herself in the growing problem and learned how the predators operated, how to recognize their scams and cyber attacks. She developed a list of precautions people should take. And, importantly, she codified how to minimize the damage – what victims should do if their identity is stolen.

Encouraged to publicize this, Kerskie wrote a book, Your Public Identity; Because Nothing is Private Anymore, which was published in 2011. That triggered speaking engagements and catapulted Kerskie to national prominence.

But work was needed at the local level, and in 2013 she agreed to lead the Collier task force. Response from the community was immediate and overwhelming. Hundreds came to the public forums, which were repeated to accommodate turn-away crowds. Over a two-year period, eight forums were held, with experts brought in to discuss an array of frauds and how to avoid them.

Kerskie says, “The work of the task force was successful. When it was formed, Naples had the third highest number of identity theft complaints nationwide. Two years later, Naples dropped to seventh.” Real progress, but more work was needed.

In 2015, Kerskie was hired to establish the Identity Fraud Institute at Hodges University. That provided an educational overlay and a base of operations. Through IFI, Kerskie estimates she assists 3-5 victims a week.

Her work is continuing on other fronts as well. She has collaborated with Sen. Kathleen Passidomo to strengthen cyber theft laws in Florida. She regularly conducts workshops for businesses and local community groups. And she has developed programs to certify professionals for mitigating privacy risks. A national conference on the subject, the Organizational Privacy Summit, is scheduled in Naples next spring.

A remarkable record of accomplishments.

It’s axiomatic that one person can make a difference, and Carrie Kerskie has made a real difference.

The Collier Citizens Council is privileged to honor her and her pioneering work.

Trecker is president-elect of the Collier Citizens Council.