Lehigh Valley Projects - 2022
Alliance Hall Summer Recreation Program
Alliances at Alliance Hall
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Student Interns:
Oliver Brown, DeSales University Health Sciences Division, Physician’s Assistant Program
Sara Murphy, DeSales University, Division of Nursing
Will Ren, Moravian University, School of Nursing and Public Health
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Academic Preceptor:
Mary Ellen Miller, PhD, RN, PHNA-BC, DeSales University
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Community Preceptor:
Tina Amato, MS, LDN, RD, Nutrition and Physical Activity Manager, Allentown Health Bureau
Community Site:
Alliance Hall Summer Recreation Program is a collaboration of organizations established to provide children in center city Allentown with a structured, safe, enjoyable recreation experience. It is a free drop-in program for children aged 7 to 13, focused on encouraging children to participate in activities promoting fun, creativity, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Activities are conducted through playing games, creating arts and crafts, swimming, going on field trips, and engaging in sports.
Team's Expereince:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns took part in overseeing and participating in activities with the children. These activities included arts and crafts, playground time, and swimming at the community pool. The interns assisted with mealtime and provided minor first aid. They acted as mentors and intervened with disciplinary problems. They gave a presentation on oral health, explaining and demonstrating proper oral hygiene techniques.
Intern Statements:
Oliver Brown, Sara Murphy, and Will Ren: “As a team, we believe the experiences at Alliance Hall have allowed us to come out of our comfort zone and develop our communication skills in ways which would not have been possible otherwise.”
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
Promising Futures at Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
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Student Interns:
Oliver Brown, DeSales University Health Sciences Division, Physician’s Assistant Program
Sara Murphy, DeSales University, Division of Nursing
Will Ren, Moravian University, School of Nursing and Public Health
Academic Preceptor:
Mary Ellen Miller, PhD, RN, PHNA-BC, DeSales University
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Community Preceptor:
Hasshan Batts, DHSc, MSW, Director, Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
Jeani Garcia, Violence Prevention and Reentry Manager, Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
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Community Site:
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley (PNLV) is a Black-led, anti-racist, liberation-based grassroots community organization that is led and staffed by neighborhood residents in Allentown, Pennsylvania. PNLV comprises a unique network whose role in the community is to promote consistent public health messaging, delivered by trusted community messengers. The mission of PNLV is to foster cooperation among residents within the Greater Lehigh Valley to create safe, healthy, vibrant, inclusive neighborhoods, where children succeed in school and where adults and families thrive and want to live. https://promiseneighborhoodslv.org/
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Team's Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns created various resources and assisted community partners of PNLV. The interns conducted a community assessment to help familiarize them with the city of Allentown. They began the summer by organizing and collecting data on mental health surveys that PNLV had conducted. This information was used to develop a PowerPoint presentation. The interns participated in conducting surveys along the streets of Allentown and created a revised version of the survey. Other projects the interns completed included creating spreadsheets for mental health resources in the area and identifying potential grants the organization could apply for. PNLV is a partner of the James Lawson Freedom School summer program for children in grades K through 12 in the Allentown School District. The interns assisted the staff in conducting daily activities such as reading tests for the students.
Intern Statements:
Oliver Brown, Sara Murphy, and Will Ren: “This internship helped expand our understanding of Allentown and its neighborhoods and allowed us to further our community outreach skills. Organizing and analyzing mental health data helped to teach us a great deal regarding the social determinants of health. Community members gave feedback on their personal health and well-being which allowed us to understand how different factors can affect an individual’s ability to access healthcare.”
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St. Luke’s University Health Network
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The SLICCest Community in Pennsylvania
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Student Interns:
Saran Taj Singh, Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Kyle Brant Tio, Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Ikemefuna Akusoba, MD, St. Luke’s Bariatric Surgery
Mary Ellen Miller, PhD, RN, PHNA-BC, DeSales University
Rajika Reed, PhD, MPH, MEd, Vice President, St. Luke’s Community Health
Katey Ruppert, BS, Manager, Grants & Quality Improvement, St. Luke’s Community Health
Whitney Szmodis, PhD, MEd, Community Health Epidemiologist, St. Luke’s Community Health
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Community Preceptor:
Brianna Aletras-Dunn, CRS, Treatment Trends
Robin Chontos, CRS, Director, Treatment Trends
Lyric Isaac, Community Outreach, Treatment Trend
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Community Site:
The Allentown Center for Recovery is a community-based recovery center in the heart of the city. It provides a safe and sober place for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) to connect with resources and treatment services. It offers a community drop-in center that helps individuals build a sense of purpose and hope by connecting with others in or seeking recovery. Its mission is to meet every individual with acceptance and love; all are welcome. The Outreach Team at the center employs a harm-reduction approach to assisting those in need, treating each individual with dignity, compassion, and respect. Harm reduction is love!
https://allentowncenterforrecovery.com/
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Team's Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns created and administered a health needs assessment to better understand the requirements and wants of the Allentown community they will eventually serve. The interns’ end goal was to eventually open a student-run free-care center called SLICC (Student-Led Interdisciplinary Care Center). In addition to creating and administering the health needs survey, the interns also participated in many community outreach activities with the people at the Allentown Center for Recovery and St. Luke’s Community Health Department. Participating in these initiatives allowed the interns to engage with the local community, increasing trust and forming relationships with underserved populations. The survey administered to the community not only assessed health needs, but also the amount of trust the community has in the healthcare system. The students serving Allentown through SLICC hope that, with time, trust can be built back between the community and the healthcare system and that individuals without existing medical care can access our healthcare system in a patient-centered manner.
Intern Statements:
Kyle Brant Tio: “I am so glad that I took the opportunity to join Bridging the Gaps this summer. I already know that I will be a proud Bridging the Gaps alumni because I think this program has taught me so much. The experience and knowledge that I have gained in such a short amount of time cannot be underestimated. I am really excited to carry this experience forward for the rest of my life and medical career. The connections that I have made and the people I have met in the community are unforgettable ones. While the internship was quite rigorous, it was extremely rewarding. This program has made me realize the importance of listening to one’s story and better understanding patients as a person rather than a client in a business. It has made me realize my purpose, in that I am here to serve people, not customers. Words cannot explain how much this program has done for me. I will definitely be telling all my underclassmen about this program, as it was an extremely valuable experience and time well spent. I definitely owe Bridging the Gaps a solid.”
Saran Taj Singh: “I chose to spend my summer working with Bridging the Gaps after seeing the disconnect between educators and the communities they serve, while I worked as a high school teacher for a few years in Baltimore. During my time in Baltimore, particularly at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and during my first year of medical school, I witnessed similar, nonproductive relationships between healthcare professionals and community members, which motivated me to spend time getting to know the Allentown community to break the cycle. I am really grateful that I made this choice, as we had the privilege of getting to know amazing community members and form relationships with them that have deepened our understanding of the issues Allentown faces. Hearing about struggles from someone studying them is much different than hearing about struggles from those directly experiencing them. This will not only help us with our goal of establishing a student-led clinic, but also will help us in our future practices. We learned how to make collaborative decisions with community members rather than prescribing solutions for them, leaning into culturally responsive modes of communication. In doing so, we learned about what the wants and needs are for our clinic to reflect. As future physicians, we learned more about how to engage underserved populations that can often be stigmatized by lecturers, preceptors, and our larger social fabric.”