Health Science Center students nominated for United Way award

A group of Health Science Center students were nominated for a 2016 United Way Volunteer of the Year Award in recognition of their commitment to promoting health and wellness in our community.

Students from the schools of health professions, medicine and dentistry were nominated for their interprofessional community service learning project, “HELP for Better Health: The Use of Global Attainment Scaling for the Developmentally Disabled.” 

As part of the project, students volunteered more than 600 hours with the residents of Providence Place, a local non-profit organization that provides work and life skills training to young adults with disabilities. The students worked with residents to promote healthy living habits and improve their health literacy. 

The Providence Place nominated the group for the award. The project leaders are Jenny Montalvo, Emma Sims, Lotanna Ikeotuonye, Brooke Macha and Caitlin Morgan. 

The faculty mentors for Project HELP are Melanie Stone, M.P.H., M.Ed., assistant director of Community Service Learning at the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics and Bridgett Piernik-Yoder, Ph.D., OTR, associate professor of Occupational Therapy. The project was funded by a community service learning (CSL) grant through the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics.