FELLOWS AND PROJECTS

2008-2009

Cameron Bass & Elizabeth Daly, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College

The Schweitzer fellowship project Cameron Bass and Elizabeth Daly will pursue is the creation of a comprehensive health-counseling program for a target population in based at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, a clinic operated by Project HOME in North Philadelphia. Their project will target patients with poorly managed chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, because of economic, social, and educational barriers to healthcare. The patients will be pre-identified by healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth’s. Currently the doctors and nurses do not have the time to sit down and walk the patients through a careful explanation of the disease and corresponding preventative care, while social workers do not necessarily have the medical expertise. This hole in continual care seems like an opportunity for Schweitzer Fellows who are medical students to improve the quality of life of these patients. Elizabeth and Cameron would like to obtain permanent volunteer positions where future Schweitzer Fellows and/or medical students are able to get involved. Through previous experiences’ each fellow has had eye opening situations to the many barriers that individuals can face in gaining access to healthcare and maintaining good health.

The fellows hope that the Schweitzer fellowship will allow them to use both previous experience and their newly acquired medical knowledge to better address these barriers. Because of their ability to dedicate one-on-one time to these patients and to utilize their medical knowledge, Elizabeth and Cameron believe that they will be able to educate patients on how to better manage their conditions, leading to a better quality of life for each patient. Elizabeth and Cameron, are both is looking forward to being a part of the Schweitzer community and to working with other individuals in the Philadelphia area who are dedicated to a path of service in the medical profession.

Christine Chung, Drexel University, School of Medicine

Christine will conduct her project at the Eliza Shirley house, located in central Philadelphia, which provides emergency shelter services to homeless single women as well as to both mothers and fathers with children. Christine’s project is to implement a program of bi-weekly or monthly seminars for the mothers on topics of relevance to them, such as how to make wise decisions regarding diet and nutrition using food stamps, empowerment against intimate partner violence, and ways to stay connected with one’s children while coping with the stresses of homelessness. Education is power, and Christine believe these workshops can help mothers regain some sense of control over certain areas of their lives and increase their awareness of the fact that they do have choices, even within the boundaries of their current financial limitations. It is vitally important to help mothers escape the continuing cycle of deteriorating health and morale because their ability to care for their children will have a profound, reverberating effect throughout society. By teaching mothers to make positive lifestyle changes and take incremental steps out of the cycle of poverty, trauma, and hopelessness, Christine hopes to empower them to pursue greater control over their lives and thus reduce their level of general stress. In order to give mothers a short break and time to themselves during these workshops, I also plan to organize simultaneous activities for the children, such as coloring or playing games.

Ashley Darcy, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing

The community service project Ashley envisions will take place at a women and children’s shelter in West Philadelphia, Jane Adams place. Her project will utilize the principles that Healthy Start (a component of the Maternal-Child Health Bureau) has developed including commitment and involvement in community, personal responsibility demonstrated by expected parents, and public education. Ashley’s outreach program will target women of childbearing age and their infants and ultimately involve educational workshops surrounding prenatal health behaviors, basic infant care, infant CPR, and postpartum education and support. Ashley hopes to empower women to make the best health choices for themselves and their families. By empowering these women to seek services and a better quality of life, Ashley hopes to help decrease infant mortality and low birth weight infants in Philadelphia. She is also looking forward to working with others who have a similar commitment to social justice and community service.

Yewah Jung & Anita Yang, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Yewah Jung and Anita Yang have proposed a community service project entitled the "Community Healthy Lifestyle Program" whose aim is to promote healthy living and wellness among the significantly underserved African American community of Northern Philadelphia. Their project will be a collaborative effort between community organizations such as local churches and civic associations and a dedicated team of student volunteers from the PCOM. With its focus on nutrition and exercise, Anita and Yewah hope that “Community Healthy Lifestyle Program” will serve as a powerful vehicle and opportunity for community members to obtain much needed education, counseling, and access to healthy living and wellness. Using health education sessions, small group discussions, and one-on-one health motivation sessions, the Fellows will ultimately anchor personal goal setting and encourage community members to make important lifestyle changes. Their hope is that by creating new channels through which to communicate valuable health education and healthy lifestyle options to the community, the program will ensure a continuing value to the community by way of the example. As such, people in the community will serve as inspiration and motivation to others who might have similar goals and aspirations for their own lives. This will hopefully, contribute to an overall healthier community that will feel empowered to continue to disseminate the message of the many benefits of living a healthier lifestyle focused on a sustainable diet and exercise. Anita and Yewah are enthusiastic that they can promote a sustainable change by being a Schweitzer fellow and continuing to expand and improve their community service project, the "Healthy Lifestyle Program.”

Each Fellow sees the Schweitzer Fellowship as a way to share the love they received from the most special people in their lives, where love was shared unconditionally, and where health care was respected as a basic human right. Both Fellows are extremely excited to be a part of the Schweitzer Fellowship because they believe this fellowship offers me a rare opportunity to combine her love for culture, service, medicine, and people into what they believe will be an all-encompassing, life-changing experience for herself, the fellowship partner, the community, and all involved.

Noel Ramirez, University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy, and Practice

Noel''''s project will address the trauma of homophobia that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQ) youth experience in the school systems, the workforce, and their community. He hopes to implement a peer-led, empowerment based group, which will re-engage LGBTQ youth in schools and prepare them for the work force. Through peer-led group work, educational curriculum on self-esteem and character development, field trips to institutions of learning and organizations, and workshops on life skills planning, Noel wants to assist LGBTQ youth find empowerment within themselves to lead healthy lives, make healthy choices, and to build their community. The group will be facilitated in The Attic Youth Center, an LGBTQ youth serving agency in Philadelphia, PA. Noel shares his enthusiasm at being selected to serve as a Schweitzer fellow this year. He hopes to bring his compassion for community, warm spirit, and creative energy to the Schweitzer Fellowship. Noel is looking forward to collaborating and learning from others who are passionate about community service work. He has also expressed his anticipation of participating in the Fellows for Life Program to assist others in crafting projects that aim to assist underserved communities in need.

Megan Riley, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson College of Health Professions

Megan’s project is to start a diabetes intervention program called “Taking Charge of Your Sugar” at Ridge Shelter, a local shelter for homeless men. Her project consists of three 10-week programs that will have exercise and educational components as well as nutritional aspects. Megan plans to invite different specialist such as a podiatrist, nutritionist, and dental hygienist to be part of a class. Each program will have 10 sessions through the fall, winter, and spring. A unique dimension of this project is the nutrition component. Many clients at the shelter rely on the food that the shelter provides to them. Megan’s goal is to work with the nutritionist to provide a menu logo, which will indicate foods that are diabetic friendly, as well as to setup a way to provide one glucose reading before mealtime to serve as a check up. Megan thinks that her project will help her explore and challenge her perception of the homeless population and allow her to grow as a professional caregiver.

Stacey Schott, Temple University, School of Medicine

Stacey’s fellowship project at the Catholic Worker Clinic in Kensington will seek to address some of the more immediate case management needs of the community and will implement a health education system and build a health information system on which the community can rely for some time. Stacy’s hopes to serve as a health educator, conducting mini clinics on health care issues specific to the underserved and homeless population (Foot, eye and wound care services, diabetes testing/education, psychiatric drug side effects and compliance education, navigating the soup kitchen with diabetes and heart failure strategies, exercise programs for patients with back problems, TB testing, etc.) She will also serve in assisting patients with personal hygiene and completing basic health screenings (i.e. BP, weight, hearing, vision, etc). Stacy plans to acquire the appropriate literacy levels of health education materials in English and Spanish in an effort to decrease patient frustration with medical jargon and increase compliance with treatment recommendations.

Stacey hopes her time as a Schweitzer Fellow reflects her passion for service. She believes we all have the ability to ‘fill in the blanks’ for one another, providing time, talent, generosity, effort and kindness in an area where another fellow human being might be struggling, concurrently receiving the time, talents, generosities and kindnesses of those who serve, in the end gaining something we might have never thought was missing. She said, “I almost feel selfish being named a Schweitzer Fellow, because it gives me the opportunity to make a commitment to my community and reap the tremendous reward of good feeling that comes with being a part of a potentially changed life, which may be my own.” Stacy looks forward to learning about the similar vision of each of the unique individuals named as Fellows and cannot wait to call them co-workers and friends.

Stephanie Staples, Temple University, School of Medicine
Whoever said you couldn’t dance your way through life didn’t have any rhythm. –S. Staples

Stephanie’s project consists of a Hip Hop Aerobics dance class that will be offered at a local community center and local events. The goal of the class is not to see weight loss results, but to promote a more positive attitude about physical activity. Stephanie describes the class as extremely fun and high energy, and exemplifies the best part is that a person does not need to have any rhythm in order to participate! She is thrilled to have the opportunity to interact with a multidisciplinary group of students and professionals sharing a common passion for community service.

Carrie Zaslow, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College

Carrie’s project will focus on nutrition and obesity issues in Philadelphia by teaching people to read and understand food labels. Carrie will collaborate with community centers, schools and clinics in underserved areas of Philadelphia to teach a “mini-course” on reading nutrition labels and being smart shoppers. The course will be a hybrid of lecture and discussion, focused on practical applications of nutrition. Carrie believes this will be especially important in light of the legislation that is currently being voted on that will require chain restaurants in Philadelphia to visibly post their nutrition facts. Carrie is aspiring to be an ophthalmologist and public health outreach, both domestically and abroad is something that she aspires to incorporate into her career and personal life. Her experiences have been pivotal for her and she believes the Schweitzer Fellowship will be an even more rewarding challenge. Carrie is looking forward to the tremendous opportunity of learning from and with the other Schweitzer Fellows.

Carrie is thrilled when she learned that she had been selected as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow and is honored to have the opportunity to uphold Albert Schweitzer’s ideals and visions. She is truly excited to build my project from the ground up and to turn it into a reality. She is also ecstatic to have a chance to work with the other fellows and to support each other as we grow as leaders in public service. In addition, Carrie is looking forward to utilizing the other fellows as resources during this process and she hope that they choose to utilize her help as well.

Betty Chung, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine
Betty worked at providing Hepatitis B Education and Screenings in Asian Communities: Chinatown Clinic. Her project entailed volunteering in immigrant community clinics, which exposed her to the health issues of immigrants, minorities, and the uninsured or underinsured. The second component of her project was to work on implementing hepatitis B screenings throughout the Philadelphia Asian Pacific American community. She sees the Schweitzer fellowship as an opportunity to work with and learn from others who have a similar commitment to community service. She also looks forward to the Fellows for Life component of the fellowship and the opportunity to mentor future leaders in community service as she intends to remain active in community service throughout her lifetime.

Gillian Farrelly & Ivania Quesada, Drexel University: College of Nursing and Health Professions Dance Movement Therapy
Gillian and Ivania used choreography dance that focuses on psychosocial problems of children. They also developed a workshop that addressed the psychosocial problems of adolescents. Their project consisted of working with children who have behavioral problems and utilizing movement as a creative outlet to release tension and anxiety in school settings. They hoped to promote a sense of self, self-esteem, confidence, and coping skills, while instilling discipline and structure into the lives of Philadelphia elementary school students. Ultimately, both Fellows are eager to help children transform their negative behaviors into a positive art form.

Rachel Kadakia & Melissa Yee, Drexel University, School of Medicine
Rachel and Melissa worked in the 11th Street Family Health Clinic of Drexel University. Their project involved educating patients about Comprehensive Health Insurance Enrollment Programs. The clinic is located in an impoverished region of Philadelphia and serves approximately 2,500 patients, most of whom are uninsured or underinsured. At the clinic, their primary goal was to speak with patients individually to fully understand their healthcare needs and determine why they are inadequately insured. The Fellows offered enrollment assistance to each patient into the available programs in order to enhance their access to healthcare. By including the patient in every step of the project, the Fellows hope that the patients will realize that they have the ability to take control of their healthcare access. The Fellows secondary goal was to create patient education programs that focus on the most prevalent health concerns at the clinic. Through the educational component, Melissa and Rachel hoped to teach patients of the 11th Street Clinic about chronic disease management and behavioral changes that they can make in order to improve their quality of life.

Devra Noily, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Divinity
As a Rabbinical student, Devra provided spiritual/pastorl care to local transgender and intersex individuals living in the Philadelphia area. These people live outside the norms of binary gender are under constant assault in our society. They experience invisibility, discrimination, reduced economic and professional opportunities, and too often, violent assault, solely because of their gender. Devra offered this community of underserved people a safe and affirming place to explore their gender identity, and to support people in their work of discerning their truth and working through spiritual questions and challenges. 

SuJung Park, Drexel University, School of Medicine
SuJung is interested in addressing adolescents who reside in Homeless Shelters by developing educational programs involving schoolwork assistance/tutoring, and health education. Although she would have liked to focus on health education/prevention issues, she evaluated the centers educational program need and then developed her project to serve and unmet need at the center. She focused on education because she felt that this is the first step in enhancing health solutions. This population is especially vulnerable due to the instability of their situation, as well as their age, and therefore, SuJung sees a great need amongst this population for intervention and education.

Michael Rovito & Julie Tippens, Temple University, College of Health Professions – Public Health
Michael and Julie’s project derived from the Green Belt Movement: Empowering youth about community health, environmental justice, and neighborhood empowerment. Their project entitled “Cleaning & Greening,” was aimed to give sixth grade students from Emlen Elementary School (in the Germantown section of Philadelphia) the chance to learn outside of their normal classroom environment. It was arranged for Temple University undergraduate students, who are studying Landscape Architecture & Horticulture, to collaborate with the sixth graders to design and implement a “community garden” on the school grounds and work beautify the neighbor that surrounds the school. The Fellows also invited experts in the environmental health professional to engage with the children to work on environmental justice issues in Philadelphia. Julie and Michael hope that by giving students ownership of a project within their community, seeds were planted for prosocial interaction and learning, with the potential for violence reduction and prevention. 

Sheila Salvant-Valentine, Widener University, School of Law – Health Law
Sheila’s main interest is in health education, particularly concerning cardiovascular diseases in Delaware Haitian community. Her project involved strengthening the skills necessary for the Haitian immigrant community to become more educated about cardiovascular diseases. Also through cultural and linguistic competency within the health care system in Delaware, she feels we can reach more of this particular population. She feels that the Albert Schweitzer fellowship enabled her to address these issues and will help her identify other relevant needs of this specific minority community. Sheila hopes that her involvement in this community service project has made a difference in the Delaware Haitian community by helping them to enjoy optimal healthcare access and a longer, healthier life.

Behnaz Sarrami, Temple University, School of Podiatry
Behnaz''s project focused on a Homeless Shelters population and provided educational podiatric care. Her project included collecting food and sleeping materials to give to the residents of the shelter.  Behnaz also offered free podiatry exams to those who normally might not have access to that type of health service. She not only examined and treated this homeless population, but educated them on how to take better care of their overall health.

Alana Wright Benton, St. Joseph''s University, Health Administration – Health Education
Alana has a deep concern for the prevalence of SIDS in underserved community. Her project was designed to target community shelters that have a high population of mothers . She developed an education workshop on the prevention of SIDS, which will also include Child CPR. Her project addressed SIDS Prevention with Infants through Education and Safe Sleeping Quarters. Alana worked hands-on at community organizations to secure safe sleeping quarters (e.g. Cribs, bassinets, etc.) and educate low-income minority women on ways they can use the information learned to prevent SIDS.