Westmoreland Community Action
Title: WCA Self-Sufficiency Booklet
Student Interns:
Andrew Armile
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill
Maya Ghantous
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill
Academic Preceptor:
Jennifer Cummings, DO
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill
Mary Haus, MD, FAAOS, FASAM
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine at Seton Hill
Victoria L. Hrach, PhD
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
Community Preceptor:
Carrie Lesniak
Director of Adult Services, Westmoreland Community Action
Daniel Spring
Adult Services Manager, Westmoreland Community Action
Community Site:
Westmoreland Community Action (WCA), formerly known as Westmoreland Human Opportunities, was established in 1980. Its mission is to eliminate poverty by strengthening communities through various services such as housing, crisis intervention, emergency services, financial support, early childhood education, and more. Based in Latrobe, PA, WCA serves all of Westmoreland County, helping thousands of residents annually, including individual adults, families, and children in any way needed. The housing programs WCA contributes to include young adult services. Participants have access to various programs, including rapid rehousing, transitional housing, and host homes. WCA helps guide participants to the best programs to fit their needs and supports them in all ways until they reach independence.
Team’s Experience:
During in-person visits, the Bridging the Gaps interns found that various clients needed to be more organized, informed, and uplifted. Westmoreland Community Action (WCA) was going through a big change, needing to standardize the social determinants of health (SDOH) to report and use to secure funding. To resolve these issues, the interns created a booklet consisting of a space for clients’ personal goals, an easy-to-read step-by-step guide to go from crisis to thriving using the SDOHs, a condensed resource list of local services, and a calendar with positive quotes and a notes section for their thoughts at the bottom of the page. In addition, the interns created an 85-page master list of resources for WCA to use within the organization and to share with surrounding communities, and also created the foundation for the SDOH goals for WCA and their Empower system. Along with these endeavors, they participated in the monthly food bank, helping assemble and distribute food boxes.
Reflections
I learned that everyone has a story. Clients, staff, strangers, friends—everyone has a story to tell and experiences that have shaped their lives for better or worse. I found working in adult services at WCA to be a very eye-opening experience.
Andrew Armile
I learned that a person’s health is not just about what goes on at the doctor’s office. It really comes down to having basic resources like food, housing, and clothing, along with the mental health to keep pushing every day to better yourself.
Maya Ghantous
