Schweitzer Fellows 2021 - 22

Amanda and Izabella aim to help youth navigate the challenges associated with everyday life. Using a website (spartansadvance.com), tutoring sessions, and workshops, they plan to give the students life skills that will help them become the best and most confident version of themselves. Community Partner: Winooski Middle/High School

Ashley's project aims to improve chronic disease care for medically underserved residents of the Upper Valley. She will establish a system to track and provide data-based support for treating chronic conditions. She will implement the system alongside volunteer clinicians during clinic visits. Community Partner: Good Neighbor Health Clinic

Edom is developing New Horizons, an outreach program for immigrant youth and children of immigrants that will offer hands-on workshops on a range of topics from financial literacy to health education. The program aims to create young leaders within the immigrant/refugee communities residing in Vermont. Community Partner: Association for Africans Living in Vermont

Emma and Maya are creating integrated gardening and healthful cooking programming for adults with disabilities. They aim to foster a connection to the food they eat and the local community by learning about where food comes from, what goes into growing it, and how to make it healthy and yummy!  Community Partners: Spark! Community Center and Canilla's Community Garden

Finlay's project will create and deliver an HPV and safer sex educational initiative for the students at Lamoille Union High School. She is collaborating with the school nurses, teachers, and health care providers to ensure the initiative addresses specific barriers to HPV vaccine equity.  Community Partner: Lamoille Union High School

Mialovena and Jack are creating the Community Health Education Program (CHEP), an initiative designed to engage adolescents in health education, addressing such topics as pandemic health, health literacy, personal hygiene, and nutrition. Community Partner: Vermont Parks and Recreation

Lily and Linda are creating after-school workshops for adolescent girls. They plan to center these workshops around empowerment and education; focusing on topics that will help girls navigate young adulthood. Community Partner: Sara Holbrook Community Center

Lindsay will write and illustrate children's books about, by, and for children living with serious and/or chronic illnesses and their families to promote their normalization. Her aim is for similarly impacted children and their families to feel less alone and provide a sense of comfort and community. Community Partner: Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD)

Shubhankar and Natalie will continue the Medical Education Directive, a mentorship program that pairs underrepresented high school students with premedical and medical students. The program provides students with mentors who can guide them on pathways to the healthcare field and expose them to careers in medicine through activities, trips, and workshops. Community Partner: Health Education Resource Opportunities

 

Ronald will incorporate Social Emotional Learning concepts outside the conventional classroom setting. Through gardening and community-centered activities, youth will build on skills such as goal-directed behavior, optimistic thinking, and personal responsibility. Community Partner: TBD

Feranmi and Sarah will institute a Patient Assistance Program (PAP) where volunteers will act as liaisons between uninsured and underinsured patients and the free prescription programs of pharmaceutical companies.  The goal of the project is to get free medications to patients who need them. Community Partner: Good Neighbor Health Clinic

Stephanie will work with a series of community organizations to host educational Know Your Rights workshops tailored to inform, educate, and help migrant farmworkers understand their legal rights. The workshops will provide tools and resources to help migrant farmworkers better understand and help improve their rights.  Community Partner: TBD

During his fellowship year, Thomas will conduct the research necessary to put together and implement Vermont's first Student Survivor Advocacy Program. He will work in collaboration with Vermont Law School and the local survivor support agency, SAFELINE, to create a program that will continue to assist survivors in the years to come. Community Partner: Safeline

Tommi and Caitlin will support citizens who are preparing for, or are in the process of, returning to society after a period of incarceration. They will develop programming to support citizens as they look for jobs and housing, address trauma and addiction recovery, and other difficulties faced while re-entering society. Community Partner: Hartford Community Restorative Justice Center.

Torri and Jess are creating a wellness program and acting as a liaison for mental health resources for the women living at the Willow Grove house. This shared living facility serves as a place for women who have previously struggled with substance misuse and are on a supported path to recovery and continued sobriety. Community Partner: Willow Grove