August 2012
Community Engaged Scholarship
A Bridge to Care abstract was accepted for a presentation at the Midwestern Global Health Conference. A student representative will be presenting at the conference on September 8, 2012 in Omaha.
A Finding A Voice abstract was accepted for a presentation at the National Social Workers Conference (NSWC) and was accepted. Members of the Finding A Voice team will be presenting at the conference on September 21, 2012 in Omaha.
The Service Learning Academy will also be presenting at the Nebraska Campus Compact Conference on September 21, 2012 in Lincoln. An overview of UNMC SLA legacy projects, activities, and accomplishments will be the focus of the presentation.
Legacy Project Updates
Each of the legacy projects was busy throughout the summer. Now, activities are really picking up for each of the leadership boards because the new school year has begun. New students joining UNMC attended a ‘New Student Organization Fair’ on August 16, 2012. The UNMC Service Learning Academy and its legacy projects were well represented at this recruitment fair. New students expressed their interest in the projects by signing up to participate at each of the booths during the fair. There were a total of 266 new students interested in getting involved with these projects.
| Legacy Project Name | Number of New Students |
| Service Learning Academy | 49 |
| Bridge to Care | 93 |
| do juSTIce | 59 |
| EMPOWER | 49 |
| Finding A Voice | 19 |
|
TOTAL |
266 |
Bridge to Care-The Refugee Project
Bridge to Care held its student recruitment orientation event from 12-1 pm on Tuesday August 28th. There were 65 new students who joined the program.
Do JuSTICe -The Jail STI Project
Public Health Training Center Collaborative Project funding was awarded in the amount of $20,000 to the Do JuSTIce collaboration to carry out a HIV screening pilot project at the Douglas County Department of Corrections. The collaboration includes partners such as Douglas County Health Department, Ne Department of Health and Human Services, Douglas County Department of Corrections, and UNMC.
Do JuSTICe will be holding its student recruitment orientation event from 12-1 pm on September 7th in MSC 2018.
EMPOWER -The Domestic Violence Project
EMPOWER held its student recruitment orientation event from 12-1 pm on Thursday August 23rd. There were 26 new students who joined the program.
Finding A Voice -The Homelessness Project
Finding A Voice will be holding its student recruitment orientation event from 12-1 pm on September 18th.
September 2012
Community Engaged Scholarship
Bridge to Care project presented at the Midwestern Global Health Conference held on September 8, 2012 in Omaha.
Members of the Finding A Voice team presented at the National Social Workers Conference (NSWC) conference on September 21, 2012 in Omaha.
The Service Learning Academy presented at the Nebraska Campus Compact Conference held on September 21, 2012 in Lincoln. An overview of UNMC SLA legacy projects, activities, and accomplishments was the focus of the presentation.
Legacy Project Updates
Bridge to Care-The Refugee Project
The Bridge to Care mentoring program was kicked off on September 29th. A training session for the 18 mentors was held on September 20th. Students interested in this program can contact Joshua Blood (joshua.blood@unmc.edu) for further information and to get involved.
The Bridge to Care project will organize its 3rd Annual Refugee Health Fair/Linkage to Care on Saturday, October 27th from 10:00 am- 3:00 pm at Franklin Elementary School, in partnership with the refugee resettlement agencies and Omaha Public Schools.
Faculty Resource Day – on Refugees in Omaha – On October 25th, 12:30-3:00, the Metro Area Coalition for Service Learning, in collaboration with Bridge to Care, will host a Faculty Resource Day, bringing faculty from 8 institutions of higher education in town, to learn about the local refugee communities and engage with refugees and community organizations to develop ideas for action. If you are interested – please email Laura Vinson SLA coordinator at laura.vinson@unmc.edu, so we can include you in further announcements (and have appropriate count for lunches!).
Do JuSTICe -The Jail STI Project
The Do JuSTIce project will organize HIV screening and counseling training for UNMC students in the month of October. This training is a part of the HIV screening pilot project at the Douglas County Department of Corrections facility in Omaha. This project is funded through the Public Health Training Center Collaborative Projects funding ($20,000). The dates and locations of the training will be announced soon. For further information contact Raees Shaikh at raees.shaikh@unmc.edu.
A recruitment event for the Do JuSTIce project was held at Creighton University on September 19th Approximately 35 students from different colleges expressed interest in the program and filled out background check applications.
EMPOWER -The Domestic Violence Project
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month. As a part of the various activities planned by the Empower group during this month, a Schwartz Center Rounds® event titled “Domestic Violence: Raising Awareness for America’s Hidden War” is being held on October 9th from 12 to 12.50 PM in MSC2014. The event includes a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Women’s Center for Advancement (WCA) as well as survivors of domestic violence. Lunch will be provided to first 80 attendees.
The EMPOWER project will also take part in the career fair at the WCA on October 10th.
Finding A Voice -The Homelessness Project
Finding A Voice project held its student recruitment orientation event on September 18th. More than 35 students from various academic colleges on the UNMC campus attended the event and expressed interest in the project. On 10/10, Mic Nelson, FAV participant and recent graduate of the Miracles treatment program, will be featured in a new Omaha Creative Institute (OCI) publication, including a CD with him playing the Indian flute. Mic will also be featured in a one-man show – ‘Walking in your shoes’ at the Studio Theatre, Creighton University’s Lied Center on November 10, 7PM.
October 2012
Legacy Project Updates
Bridge to Care-The Refugee Project
The Bridge to Care project held its 3rd Annual Refugee Health Fair/Linkage to Care on Saturday, October 27th from 10:00 am- 3:00 pm at Franklin Elementary School, in partnership with the refugee resettlement agencies and Omaha Public Schools. There were a total of 322 refugees in attendance, doubled from the previous health fair in March. In addition, there were 75 students and other volunteers (faculty supervisors and community agency representatives). Some of the services offered at the health fair included, basic health screenings, vision and dental exams, free flu shots, patient-physician consultations, pharmacy consultations, assessment of developmental milestones, and many health education topics, such as, immunizations, lead, bed bugs, proper hygiene, tuberculosis, and many more. For more information about this event, please contact Ruth Margalit or Laura Vinson in the Service Learning Academy.
Faculty Resource Day – on Refugees in Omaha
Approximately 90 faculty, staff, students and community partners joined together on Oct. 5 for the inaugural Metropolitan Area Coalition for Service-Learning Faculty Resource Fair.
With this year’s theme of “Refugees,” the resource fair was an excellent opportunity to learn about Omaha’s refugees through speakers such as Alice Schumaker, College of Public Health, UNMC; Karen Parde, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services; Jude Connelly, Lutheran Family Services; Ann Marie Kudlacz, Southern Sudan Community Association; and UNMC hosts Ruth Margalit and Laura Vinson.
Following the opening speakers, attendees met with LFS, SSCA and other community groups, including: Bridge to Care Refugee Program, Omaha Together One Community, Omaha Public Schools ESL and Migrant Education Office, Embrace the Nations, and Nebraska Mosaic.
Special thanks to the refugee community members who shared their personal stories. Attendees learned firsthand what it means to be a Burmese, Sudanese, Burundi, Kachin and Bhutanese refugee. A spring service event to address these refugee needs is being planned.
Do JuSTICe -The Jail STI Project
The Do JuSTIce project hosted HIV screening and counseling training for UNMC students on October 29th. This training is a part of the HIV screening pilot project at the Douglas County Department of Corrections facility in Omaha. This project is funded through the Public Health Training Center Collaborative Projects funding ($20,000). Over 50 students from UNMC, as well as Creighton University attended the training session presented by Heather Younger, from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
A recruitment event for the Do JuSTIce project was held at Creighton University on September 19th. Approximately 35 students expressed interest in the program and filled out background check applications.
EMPOWER -The Domestic Violence Project
As part of the various activities organized by the Empower group during the Domestic Violence Awareness month of October, a Schwartz Center Rounds® event titled “Domestic Violence: Raising Awareness for America’s Hidden War” was held on October 9th. The event included a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Women’s Center for Advancement (WCA) as well as survivors of domestic violence. Approximately 80 people attended the event.
The EMPOWER project also hosted a self-defense classes featuring the techniques of Krav Maga on October 11th and 27th. The training class was attended by over 30 students from different colleges in UNMC.
Finding A Voice -The Homelessness Project
On October 10th, Mic Nelson, FAV participant and recent graduate of the Miracles treatment program, featured in a new Omaha Creative Institute (OCI) publication. Mic will also be featured in a one-man show – ‘Walking in your shoes’ at the Studio Theatre, Creighton University’s Lied Center on November 10, 7PM.
Decreasing the Donor Deficit -The Bone Marrow Donation Project
The Decreasing the Donor Deficit project will be holding two bone marrow registration drives on campus during National Bone Marrow Awareness month. On Tuesday November 13th from 12-5 pm in the Durham Outpatient Center and Wednesday November 14th from 12-5 pm in the Michael Sorrell Center commons area the registration drives will offered free of charge in partner with Be the Match.
November 2012
Legacy Project Updates
Bridge to Care-The Refugee Project
The Bridge to Care program held a health education session with Sudanese refugees on November 10th about dental care, in partnership with Creighton University College of Dentistry. A total of 33 refugees and 12 students participated in this event. Another health education session will be held on December 1st, in partnership with UNMC ophthalmology. Refugees will participate in an education session to learn about the importance of vaccinations, will receive the flu-shots, will complete a vision screening and fitted as needed for eye glasses. Over the past year, the UNMC optic shop, under the leadership of Lori Cervantes, has donated over 400 used premeasured glasses to the SLA projects.
Do JuSTICe -The Jail STI Project
The Do JuSTIce project continues to provide STI education, screening and treatment to the inmates at the Douglas County Department of Corrections. Theresa Tonozzi, an MPH student, a board member of the student–community co-lead project, will be presenting a poster titled “Analysis of the Douglas County Corrections Inmate STD Survey” during the 2012 COPH Student Research conference on November 30th.
In January, the project will begin the pilot project focusing on HIV screening.
Congratulations to Karolyn Fox, a board member and a MD/MPH student, who was recently awarded a grant of $12,000 from the MTV Staying Alive Foundation. This grant, written under the guidance of Service Learning Academy (Dr. Ruth Margalit and Raees Shaikh) has been awarded for the expansion of STI/HIV education project to the Douglas County Youth Corrections Center over the next year. The Service Learning Academy will initiate the project very soon and oversee its implementation.
EMPOWER -The Domestic Violence Project
Empower has completed the 16 weeks session with the WCA’s Bridges program, serving women in generational poverty and with a history of DV. The session engaged students from all colleges and received very good feedback from participants. The next session, engaging a new cohort will being in January.
Finding A Voice -The Homelessness Project
The Finding A Voice project meets weekly at the Siena/Francis House. The creative workshop is held every Thursday from 3:45-5 pm and the Artists in Recovery (AIR) sessions are held Saturday evenings from 7-10 pm and are open to the public. Sessions have been drawing crowds of 60-80 people each week!!! Put on your ‘artistic’ hat or your ‘recovery’ one and check it out! All are welcome with dignity and respect.
Decreasing the Donor Deficit -The Bone Marrow Donation Project
The Decreasing the Donor Deficit program held two bone marrow registration drives on November 13th and 14th. The purpose of this event was to raise awareness during the national bone marrow awareness month and to register as many potential donors as possible through ‘Be The Match’. The registration drives were held in the Durham Outpatient Center and in the Sorrell Center for Health Science Education, where a total of 180 individuals became registered donors by doing a simple cheek swab. This is the 3rd year that Be the Match are donating the kits for our project ($100 value each), with the goal to increase awareness and encourage student participation. More events are planned for the Spring semester. Three local TV news channels covered this event to assist in raising public awareness. See the link below from Channel 42 at 18 minutes and 45 seconds.
Bone Marrow Drive on the News.
January 2013
Service Learning Showcase Event
On January 24th, the Service Learning Academy organized a showcase event on campus. The purpose of the event was to recognize community partnerships, raise awareness of project specific topics, and recruit new students. The UNMC Chancellor, Harold Maurer, and UNMC Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dele Davies, opened the event attended by approximately 80 guests including community partners, students, faculty and the Deans of the Colleges of Nursing, Allied Health, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Public Health. The opening of the event was followed by a video with personal reflections of SL legacy project leaders, a community partner representative talk, and ended with refreshments and engagement around the project booths.
AmeriCorps Members
The Service Learning Academy is pleased to announce our three new AmeriCorps – coming to us through an agreement (no-cost) through our participation in the Nebraska Campus Compact, http://www.nebraskacampuscompact.org/. All three AmeriCorps are College of Public Health students: Mariama Issoufou, Messan Ametitovi, and Chelsea Dean. They will be working with our community partners and students on issues related to refugee health, women affected by domestic violence, and other underserved populations.
Legacy Project Updates
Bridge to Care-The Refugee Project
The Bridge to Care program held a health education session for Sudanese refugees on December 1st, in partnership with UNMC ophthalmology and OneWorld Community Health Center. Refugees participated in an education session to learn about the importance of vaccinations, received a free flu-shot (donated by OneWorld), completed a vision screening and were fitted as needed for eye glasses. There were a total of 70 Crestview Village residents who benefited from the services, made possible by 12 UNMC students and 8 additional volunteers from UNMC. Over the past year, the UNMC optic shop, under the leadership of Lori Cervantes, has donated over 400 used premeasured glasses to the SLA projects. The next BTC health education session is planned for Feb. 2nd 2013 10-12 pm, with the Bhutanese community to address depression and suicide.
Do JuSTICe -The Jail STI Project
The Do JuSTIce project continues to provide STI education, screening and treatment to the inmates at the Douglas County Department of Corrections. The funded HIV screening pilot project, offering free HIV screenings to the inmates being released from the jail is scheduled to begin in the very soon. For further information please contact Raees Shaikh at raees.shaikh@unmc.edu. Theresa Tonozzi, MPH student and a board member of the student–community co-lead project, was awarded the best poster award for her poster titled “Analysis of the Douglas County Corrections Inmate STD Survey” during the 2012 COPH Student Research conference on November 30th.
EMPOWER -The Domestic Violence Project
Empower will begin its next sessions at the Women’s Center for Advancement (WCA), engaging a new cohort February 2013. The project is currently improving the health education curriculum by implementing small group activities to reinforce the health education topics discussed. The improvement of the curriculum will offer more service learning opportunities for students, while expanding the educational offerings for women participating in the EMPOWER program.
On Valentine Day, 02/14/2013, EMPOWER, in partnership with Nebraska Methodist College will host various speakers and performances over the lunch hour marking “One Billion Rising”, a worldwide event demanding an end to violence against women. On Valentine Day’s 15th Anniversary, this event aims at inviting one billion women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to the violence. Events will be held in MSC 3002 from 12:00- 1:30 pm. Continuation of event will be held at Nebraska Methodist College at 90th and Dodge from 4:00- 6:00 pm.
Finding A Voice -The Homelessness Project
The Finding A Voice project meets weekly at the Siena/Francis House. The creative workshop is held every Thursday from 3:45-5 pm and the Artists in Recovery (AIR) sessions are held Saturday evenings from 7-10 pm and are open to the public. Sessions have been drawing crowds of 100-130 people each week!!! Put on your ‘artistic’ hat or your ‘recovery’ one and check it out! All are welcome with dignity and respect. Save the Date! The Finding A Voice Annual Exhibition will take place at the 906 Studio on Saturday, April 6th2013 6-9 PM.
Decreasing the Donor Deficit (DDD)—Cancer Awareness and Bone Marrow Donor Recruitment. Developed in 2008, DDD aims to raise awareness to cancer treatment by bone-marrow transplantation and recruit new donors. Matching with a donor can be the difference between life and death. Students work with local communities to organize bone marrow registration drives with an emphasis on recruiting minority donors. Be The Match, the national organization, is our community partner. Its regional headquarter has been supporting this program, training students, providing the supplies, and helping with logistics. Since its inception, over 100 students worked with DDD to enroll over 300 new donors! A Schwartz Center Round featuring donors and receivers and their caring team will be featured Feb 19th 2013 12-1. Place – TBA.
June 2012
Community Engaged Scholarship
Technology and Healthcare Publication
Technology and Healthcare accepted an article for publication authored by Morgan Taylor, an AmeriCorps VISTA in the COPH, and Dr. Ashish Joshi. The article, titled “Surveys assessing STI related health information needs of adolescent population,” will be published sometime in 2012. Congratulations!
Two presentations from the Service Learning Academy, legacy projects:
1. AmeriCorps Presentation at the 2012 ServeNebraska Symposium: “Celebration of Service”: Americorps members Jaime Odden, Chris Leet, Shakira Davis, and Kyle McAndrews presented “Finding a Voice” on May 31st at the Seward Civic Center in Seward, NE. This symposium provides a forum for Nebraska AmeriCorps members from throughout Nebraska to showcase their service stories through creative projects inspired by service experiences.
2. CSTE poster presentation: Austin Person UNMC, Jillian Fickenscher UNMC, Raees Shaikh UNMC, Kari Simonsen UNMC/DCHD, Elizabeth Berthold DCHD, Anne O’Keefe DCHD, Mark Foxall DCDC, Mary Earley DCDC, Monirul Islam UNMC, Kathy Kaiser UNMC , Uriel Sandkovsky UNMC, Ruth Margalit UNMC . “Opt-out vs. opt-in screening for sexually transmitted infections in a county correctional facility results in significantly higher positivity rates for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea infections.” Poster presentation at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ Annual Conference. Omaha, NE (June 3- June 7, 2012).
World Refugee Day-World Refugee day is Saturday, June 23rd at Benson High School (5120 Maple Street) from 10 am to 4pm. The day will include refugee presentations and performances, a naturalization ceremony, lunch, a children’s carnival, a fashion show, educational panels, and more! Bridge to Care will provide two health education sessions about maternal/child health and nutrition for refugees throughout the day. This free event is brought to you by the Omaha Refugee Task Force.
SLA Participation-Over 700 students participated with the Service Learning Legacy Projects over the last year. Student participation from the COPH is low so the Service Learning Academy team would like to visit faculty’s courses to raise awareness among students on the opportunities to participate, and discuss with faculty about incorporating service learning into their coursework. Please contact Dr. Margalit if you have any interest (rmargalit@unmc.edu).
May 2012
Community engaged Scholarship:
Submitted – Journal of Correctional Health Care – Voluntary STD testing and treatment program at a metropolitan correctional facility: Evaluation of test acceptability and associated risk factors. Christopher K. Brown (COPH graduate); Mary Earley; Raees Shaikh; Jillian Fickenscher; Jessica Ott; Austin Person; KM Monirul Islam; Kari Simonsen;Uriel Sandkovsky; Kathy Kaiser; Mark Foxall; Ruth Margalit.
Welcome 2012-2013 New Legacy Project Boards!
Bridge to Care Board Members-The Refugee Project
Andrew Lemke – COP President, Caci Schulte and Josh Blood – COP Co-Vice Presidents, Messan Ametitovi – COPH Session/event coordinator, Li Yin – Treasurer
Do JuSTICe Board Members-The Jail Project
Pat Passarelli-COM President, Karolyn Fox-Dahl – COM UNMC Vice President, Yalile Perez –COM Creighton Vice President, David Taylor –COM Vice President of Special Projects, Melissa O’dell-UNMC COM Recruiter, Theresa Tonozzi-UNMC COPH Recruiter, Kristy Jeffers-COM Creighton Recruiter
EMPOWER Board Members-The Domestic Violence Project
Katie Young- COM President, Rebekah Priluck- COM Vice President, Christine Hauschel- COPH Treasurer/COPH Rep, Rory Sallach-COP Document Coordinator/Pharmacy Rep, Haley Gorby- COM Overall Student Recruiter, Jordan Gibbens-PA Rep/Recruiter
COPH AmeriCorps VISTA leaving in the next 1-2 months:
Melissa Baughman: Melissa assisted the SLA with meetings, various different projects, and grants. She also worked with two specific legacy projects; EMPOWER and Bridge to Care. Her various projects with the SLA included: creating a Grant and Service Learning Journal Database, creating surveys for Bridge to Care Evaluations and completing the IRB, compiling Sustainability Binders and flash drives for Bridge to Care and EMPOWER, assisting with the research and creation of a Cultural Competency Module Outline for the Global Health Education Consortium, coordinating Student Leadership Forums, and producing an SLA Donor File with information about the SLA to give to potential donors. Working with the SLA in the COPH has given Melissa a greater understanding of the importance of service learning in health professions education and the ability of service learning to affect community health. Melissa will return to Ames, IA where she will work as a Nursing Assistant to accumulate hours in preparation for applying to graduate programs to become a Physician’s Assistant.
Kaitlin Hamilton: Kaitlin volunteered most of her time with the education program at City Sprouts, building a curriculum and resources for the program. She recently received a $300 grant to jumpstart the program. Katilin also works with the Midlands Sexual Health Research Collaborative, creating an article database and writing a literature review. This year, Kaitlin learned that the Karen plant in circles rather than rows. Next year, Kaitlin will spend another year as an AmeriCorps with the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach, FL.
Jaime Odden: Jaime acted as the project coordinator for the Finding a Voice service learning project at the Siena/Francis House homeless shelter and treatment facility. This year confirmed her interests in healthcare for the underserved and opened her eyes to the broad spectrum of public health. This fall, Jaime plans to attend medical school at the University of North Dakota.
Kari Todd: Kari volunteers with Dr. Melissa Tibbits on two main projects: a Community Impact Plan for Building Bright Futures and a prevention matrix for violence prevention efforts in the Omaha area, which is still in progress. By volunteering in the COPH, Kari learned about the implementation and evaluation of various programs. She has also been able to familiarize herself with numerous non-profit organizations throughout Omaha, which will be beneficial to her over the next few years as she enters the Occupational Therapy program at Creighton University. She is very thankful for her time and experiences gained at the COPH!
Morgan Taylor: Morgan spent her VISTA year helping the SLA develop and maintain a website highlighting the work of the student legacy programs, supporting the development of the Schwartz Center rounds, and writing a research paper on using technology to increase the awareness of sexual health education in underserved populations with Dr. Ashish Joshi. Working at the COPH has opened her eyes to the endless approaches that can be taken toward improving public health, from a local level to a global level of impact. Morgan plans to continue to use what she has learned when she begins her work on her MPH next year at the University of South Carolina.
We THANK THEM for their tremendous contributions and wish them good luck with their future endeavors!!!
Two VISTA Complete the Scheels Fargo Marathon
Two AmeriCorps VISTA, Jaime Odden and Morgan Taylor, completed the Scheels Fargo Marathon on May 19th. This marathon takes runners all throughout the beautiful city of Fargo, North Dakota. The community cheered and encouraged runners all 26.2 miles. The VISTA recommend this course to anyone thinking of running a full marathon as it is very flat. Congratulations on your hard work!
April 2012
Bridge-to-Care Refugee
Successful Health Fair/Linkage to care: Bridge-to-Care held their 2nd annual Refugee Health Fair on March 31st at the Yates Community Center, with the purpose of exposing services to the refugee community and linking them to available health related organizations and clinical care. The event hosted health services for refugees from various community agencies and organizations. Services provided by volunteers, members of Bridge to Care, and recruited students included: basic health screenings, vision screenings, family planning counseling, information regarding over the counter medication use and proper medication disposal, oral screening, linkage to care to the Florence refugee clinic, and more. A VISTA clown and a kids’ corner kept the children busy and all enjoyed a hot lunch! Over 150 refugees were served that day with over 40 volunteers from the colleges of pharmacy, public health, medicine, and with college of dentistry students from Creighton! Feedback from focus groups and evaluation surveys was overwhelming positive with request to expand the clinical care provided at the event and beyond.
Mentoring program: Bridge-to-Care’s mentoring program with youth coming from refugee background is now partnered with OPS and will resume in September, focusing on high school completion, readiness for college, and exposure to health professions..
World Refugee Day 6/23/2012 – If you are in town – please plan to attend. More information at: http://www.facebook.com/worldrefugeedayomaha
The Finding a Voice
Art Exhibition: The exhibition took place on March 31st at 906 Studio. Artists of all forms who have been working weekly at the Artists in Recovery program at the Siena/Francis House exhibited their talents in front of a diverse audience, with homeless guests, staff, students, UNMC faculty, artists, and the broader Omaha community, including our Deans – Drs. El Mohandes, Anderson, and Schumaker!
Silverstone company proposal: The Silverstone insurance company approached the project to artistically paint a 4-story stair-case in their building out west. Plans are on their way to engage homeless artists, students, and artists from the community in this paid project – from the planning to implementation.
DoJustice – Jail program
Austin Person – outgoing president of DoJustice received the 2012 Chancellor Robert D. Sparks, MD, Public Health Student Research Award. Congratulations Austin!!!
Winnie Roast celebration: Celebrating this year activities, the DoJustice board organized a Winnie roast at Elmwood park with participation of over 40 UNMC and Creighton students, and jail staff. All food was contributed by Omaha businesses including root beer by Upsteam brewery for amazing floats!
Community Engaged Scholarship:
- Community Campus Partnership for Health Conference presentations:
a. The EMPOWER Program: a Community-Campus Partnership Engaging Victims of Domestic Violence; Kirsten Foster, Jacqueline Blunck, Kortany Schultz, Christine Hauschel, Meg Orr, Rory Sallach, Kristin Hiebner, Courtney Boeck, Abby Daum, Ambrer Krikke, Christine Cierc, Melissa Baughman, AR Tulani Grundy Meadows, Ruth Margalit. Community-Campus Partnership for Health 15th Anniversary Conference, “Community-Campus Partnerships as a Strategy for Social Justice: Where We’ve Been & Where We Need to Go” Houston Texas, 4/19/12.
b. Finding a Voice at the Sienna Francis House, Homeless Shelter; an Interprofessional Service Learning Initiative; Ruth Margalit, MD, Project Director; Mike Saklar, CEO, Siena/Francis House, Project Co-Director; Rita Paskowitz, Professional Storyteller, Project Facilitator; Lisa Zulawski, VISTA AmeriCorps, Project Photographer; Jamie Odden, VISTA AmeriCorps, Project Coordinator; Christopher Leet, AmeriCorps, Art Coordinator, Shakira Davis, AmeriCorps, Writing Assistant; Kyle McAndrews, AmeriCorps, Assistant Coordinator; Nancy Farris, College of Nursing, Student Director; Laura Hansen, MPH; Jeremiah Neal community member. Community-Campus Partnership for Health 15th Anniversary Conference, “Community-Campus Partnerships as a Strategy for Social Justice: Where We’ve Been & Where We Need to Go” Houston Texas, 4/19/12. Won 2nd prize for best poster.
- Partnering to address the relentless STI epidemic: A unique collaboration between the jail, local and state health departments, and an academic health center in Douglas County, Nebraska; Ruth Margalit MD, Mary Earley,Jillian Fickenscher, Raees Shaikh MPH, Austin Person , Kari Simonsen MD, Monirul Islam PhD, Kathy Kaiser PhD, RN Uriel Sandkovsky MD,Adi Pour PhD, Elizabeth Berthold, MS, M(ASCP), Mark Foxall PhD. Accepted 4/2012 for publication – International Public Health Journal.
- Point-Prevalence of Sexually-Transmitted Infections in a County Correctional Facility; Austin Person, Jillian Fickenscher, Raees Shaikh, Kari Simonsen, Elizabeth Berthold, Anne O’Keefe, Mark Foxall, Mary Earley, Monirul Islam, Kathy Kaiser, Uriel Sandkovsky, Ruth Margalit. Accepted for presentation at The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Annual Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, June 3-7, 2012.
- Educating the Present and Future Healthcare Workforce to Provide Care to populations. David R. Garr, MD, Ruth Margalit, MD, Andrew Jameton, PhD, Frank B. Cerra, MD. Accepted 4/2012 for publication in Academic Medicine.
- Finding a Voice – the unfolding story of a service learning program at the homeless shelter. Margalit R. Leet C. Journal of Medical Humanities, Spring 2012. Check it out at: http://www.hektoeninternational.org/
City Sprouts Volunteer Needed!
City Sprouts is seeking volunteer instructors to conduct our spring and summer Children’s Garden programming. We are very flexible as far as schedules and commitment goes. Please feel free to pass along the info to other community members who are 18 or older!
Ideally, we are seeking one head instructor and two associate instructors. The programming runs from late April to August, and teaches at-risk youth between the ages of 6 and 13 good nutrition practices integrated with gardening. There are two classes per month, occurring every-other Saturday from 10:30 am to 12 pm. Each class also requires 0 to 2 hours of prep work. City Sprouts has our own curriculum, but we are also open to volunteers with new curriculum ideas.
This position would be ideal for someone interested in cooking, nutrition, horticulture, elementary school education, and or middle school education. No experience with children is necessary; however volunteers need to pass a background check. A volunteer who speaks Spanish or Karen would also be greatly appreciated. Please contact Kaitlin Hamilton at 402-559-9317 or khamilton4@mccneb.edu for more information.
SL/CE – Many new opportunities are posted on our newly organized SLA website (Thank You! Morgan Taylor, our dedicated VISTA!) . Please be sure to check it out and come/send your students to us. Congratulations to those who presented 4/22-23/2012!
March 2012
EMPOWER Goes to the White House – Washington, D.C. as a “Campus Champions of Change Challenge” Finalist!
After reviewing a thousands of entries, the White House announced UNMC’s EMPOWER program among the 15 “Campus Champions of Change Challenge” finalist. All finalists were invited to the White House to be honored on March 15th. COPH, MPH student Chrissy Hauschel, and medical students Sarah Jones, and Tessa Comers with Drs. Ruth and Eyal Margalit, attended the event. President Obama stepped into the event and explained that this competition highlighted college and university students that are helping our country “innovate, educate, and build the rest of the world,” while also inspiring other Americans to get involved in their communities.
The UNMC participants said the following about their experience:
“The work that each and every project is doing is amazing and I could not help but feel inspired. While the opportunity to see President Obama speak at such an intimate event was amazing, the true stars were the representatives of the honored projects. I felt honored to be included as a part of such an ambitious, motivated and talented group”- Christine Hauschel, medical student
“They left me to wondering how I can measure success beyond myself. Martin Luther King Jr. offered quite a metric. He said, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” All the project finalists recognize and are working toward a piece of this goal. This means there is much work to be done and many opportunities for “ordinary Americans to do extraordinary things,” the premise behind President Obama’s Champions of Change program. The EMPOWER Project is an opportunity to work toward education and dignity of spirit for an often forgotten part of our community, those affected by domestic violence. I’m humbled and honored to have played a role in its history and look forward to supporting it in the future.” –Sarah Jones, medical student
“The White House Campus Champions of Change reception was both a humbling and inspiring experience. As a representative of EMPOWER I found myself sitting in the midst of some of the most innovative, driven college students in the United States. Champions of Change they were, and I was fortunate enough to share in the celebration and, hopefully, to absorb some of their wisdom…I’m left with the overall impression that students, universities and events like those at the Campus Champions of Change event are already shaping the future in ways in which that I’m only now aware. It gives me courage to pursue passions that may seem unconventional because I now know, somewhere, that others are also fighting a similar fight.”-Tessa Commers, medical student
“This event was truly inspiring! The visit to the White House solidified our commitment to continue and engage with our community and assist our students in engaging and taking a leadership role in projects that will address some of the most pressing issues and bring positive change.” Dr. Ruth Margalit
EMPOWER Session at the WCA
Empower held their first educational session with the Bridges to Opportunity Program at the Women’s Center for Advancement on Friday, March 2nd. The Bridges to Opportunity program assists clients in building and maintaining healthy families, decreasing social service dependence, increasing personal support systems, and attaining basic and life skills need for stable employment. Coaches conduct an assessment of client strengths and barriers to self-sufficiency on a self-sufficiency continuum matrix. EMPOWER will assist in assessing health and developing health goals to maximize the clients’ well-being. Please contact Kirsten Foster for more information (Kirsten.Foster@unmc.edu). Community Engaged Scholarship – 1 – EMPOWER will present at the national CCPH conference 4/18/12. For more details on this exciting conference please check www.ccph.info
Finding a Voice Publication
Community Engaged Scholarship – 2 – The Hektoen International: Journal of Medical Humanities accepted a manuscript on the “Finding a Voice” project. The manuscript discusses the patient-physician interaction that began the program. It includes poems and the testimony of Chris Leet and other homeless guests who have made a personal transformation as a result of their participation in the program.
The Finding a Voice Art Exhibition
The exhibition will take place on Saturday, March 31st from 6:30pm to 9:30 pm at the 906 gallery on Cuming and 16th. This is a very exciting development from the FAV program. Artists of all forms, who have been working weekly at the Artists in Recovery program, can exhibit their talents in front of a diverse audience, including homeless guests, staff, and the broader Omaha community. A former homeless guest shared that being able to take part in an exhibition was enormously empowering for him. We hope this event will empower current homeless guests. The event is planned to include art and photo exhibits, music/vocal pieces, and a panel discussion at 7:30. Community Engaged Scholarship – 3 – Finding A Voice will present at the national CCPH conference 4/18/12.
Bridge to Care’s Refugee Health Fair
Bridge to Care will hold their annual Refugee Health Fair on Saturday, March 31st from 10am until 2pm at the Yates Community Center (3260 Davenport Street). The Refugee Health Fair will provide health services for refugees from various community agencies and organizations, as well as services provided by members of Bridge to Care. Examples of services include basic health screenings, vision screenings, family planning, over the counter medication use, proper medication disposal, dental and oral health, and counseling sessions concerning screening results with doctors. The goal is to link refugees to resources in Omaha. Please contact Hong Bui if you are able to participate and for more information (thuhong.bui@unmc.edu)
World Refugee Day
World Refugee Day will be June 23rd at Benson High School. For more information on the event please click on this link to see a video of World Refugee Day from 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeh4J3zjnhA). Future CoPH Drops will include more information about the event as the date approaches.
MPH SL/CE presentations are coming up April 23, 24. Details will follow! Come listen to the presentations, learn and support your colleagues.
February 2012
The Service Learning Academy
Bridge to Care
Bridge to Care will hold their next health education session with the Somali refugees on February 18th from 4-6pm at Lutheran Family Services (at the Center Mall on 42nd and Center). Bridge to Care is also planning their annual health fair for March 31st at the Yates Community Center, so mark your calendars!
EMPOWER
Empower will hold their first educational session with the Bridges to Opportunity Program at the Women’s Center for Advancement on Friday, March 2nd. The Bridges to Opportunity program assists clients in building and maintaining healthy families, decreasing social service dependence, increasing personal support systems, and attaining basic and life skills need for stable employment. Coaches conduct an assessment of client strengths and barriers to self-sufficiency on a self-sufficiency continuum matrix. EMPOWER will assist in assessing health and developing health goals to maximize the clients’ well-being. Please contact Kirsten Foster for more information (Kirsten.Foster@unmc.edu).
World Refugee Day
World Refugee Day will be June 23rd at Benson High School. For more information on the event please click on this link to see a video of World Refugee Day from 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeh4J3zjnhA). Future CoPH Drops will include more information about the event as the date approaches.
Finding a Voice
The Hektoen International: Journal of Medical Humanities accepted a manuscript on the “Finding a Voice” project. The manuscript discusses the patient-physician interaction that began the program. It also includes the testimony of Chris Leet and other homeless guests who have made a personal transformation as a result of their participation in the program.
