Project Health

Project HEALTH
Founded:	1999
Recognition:	Community Impact
Membership:	~60
Executive Board:	2 Campus Coordinators; 2-4 Program Coordinators/program
Category:	{{{Category}}}
Website:	projecthealth.org
Contact:	{{{Contact}}}

Project Health (PH) is the Columbia site of a national nonprofit, Project HEALTH [1], that has locations at universities in Boston (Harvard, BU), Providence (Brown), Washington, DC (GW), Baltimore (Johns Hopkins, UMBC, Loyola), New York City (Columbia, NYU), and Chicago (UChicago).

Project Health at Columbia is an organization affiliated with Community Impact; it mobilizes approximately 60 volunteers per semester to "break the link between poverty and poor health" through its Family Help Desk and STRIVE programs. The organization is almost entirely student-run, with some support from full-time local staff in New York and national staff in Boston.

History and Programs

Project Health at Columbia was founded in 1999. Project Health historically ran one help desk and five youth programs--HCRC/FHD, UJIMA, STRIVE, FitNut, Asthma Swim, and TIDES. In spring 2008, Project Health National restructured to focus on the Family Help Desk programs and STRIVE youth program. Most former youth programs were transitioned to other nonprofits and independent Community Impact recognition.

The Family Help Desk at Harlem Hospital

Nationally, Project Health’s 22 Family Help Desks are located in pediatric outpatient, adolescent, and prenatal clinics, newborn nurseries, pediatric emergency rooms, health department clinics, and federally qualified health centers. They reach over 4,000 families annually. FHD volunteers recognize that the health of families is not only linked to access to medicine, but also social and economic barriers. Nutrition, employment, childcare, education, housing conditions, etc. all affect the income and health of families--a child with asthma cannot stay healthy even with medication if he/she does not have proper meals because his/her parents are unemployed and they live in an apartment with mold and peeling paint. As Harvard FHD alumna Mia Lozada, now a University of Chicago medical student, observed: “My classmates think you write a prescription, and you’re done. I ask, can the patient read the prescription? Does she have health insurance to fill it? Does she need transportation to the pharmacy? Does she have food at home to take with the prescription?” [2]

The Harlem Community Resource Center (HCRC), was the first program created at Columbia in 1999 and is the flagship program of Project Health at Columbia. In 2007, the HCRC was renamed the Family Help Desk at Harlem Hospital to match the names of sister programs at other sites. The catchment area of FHD Harlem is primarily Harlem and the Bronx with a large African-American population, and many French-speaking Caribbean and West African immigrants.

The FHD operates in the pediatrics clinic in the Ron Brown Pavilion of Harlem Hospital on 135th and Lenox. After distributing flyers and explaining the function of the desk to patients in the clinic waiting room, patients approach the desk and volunteer fill out an intake form to gather personal information, contact information, family composition, and the psychosocial needs of the patient. After completing the intake form, the volunteer will connect or give referrals to the client for resources including, but not limited to: food stamps, food pantries, school meals, childcare, afterschool care, summer camps, GED/ESL classes, legal assistance, cash assistance and public benefits, healthcare, job training, job placement, housing advocacy, and housing search. This information is communicated to the patient on-site, and through extensive follow-up phone calls until the patient's needs are met. Additionally, FHD volunteers also receive referrals from clinic physicians, nurses, social workers, and even outside community organizations.

Volunteers on shift at Harlem Hospital in 2008.

The Family Help Desk at Columbia-Presbyterian

FHD Presbyterian was founded in 2008 at the Washington Heights Family Health Center affiliated with NY-Presbyterian Hospital on 181st and St. Nicholas, and first shifts began in 2009. It has the same program model as all FHD programs of connecting patients to socioeconomic resources in order to improve patient health. The catchment area of FHD Pres. contains a large Spanish-speaking and Latin American illegal immigrant population.

Volunteers will flyer both the pediatrics and adult clinics in the Health Center to attract cases, as well as receiving referrals from physicians and social workers. Volunteers cover a similar range of issues, but urgent cases involving housing, domestic violence, food stamps, legal assistance, etc. are referred to or worked on in collaboration with social workers.

STRIVE

Project HEALTH’s STRIVE program is an afterschool intervention that provides low-income teens with sickle cell disease with the mentoring, peer support, academic assistance, and disease management education they need to manage their condition effectively and realize their full potential. It is the only program of its kind in the country. Adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) – an incurable genetic blood disorder predominantly affecting African Americans and Latinos – are among this country’s most at-risk youth. Prolonged hospital stays cause these teens to miss school frequently and disrupt their social networks, compromising their academic achievement and causing social isolation that contributes to low self-esteem. Each customary challenge of adolescence – academic and social pressure, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and drug/alcohol use – is amplified by both their poverty and their illness.

The STRIVE program at Columbia was founded in XXXX (will fill out later) and program began in XXXX (will fill out later). Initially the program was based in Harlem Hospital but has since moved to the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital on 168th and Fort Washington. Volunteers work with participants to lift the barriers of poverty and chronic illness through: tutoring and college preparation to minimize the effect of missed school days on educational attainment; peer support and one-on-one mentoring to build self-confidence and reduce the social isolation; education on skills and knowledge about how to care for their health and facilitate the transition to adult care; and providing opportunities to reduce stigma by educating their classmates and school officials about their disease.

FitNut

The Girl's Fitness & Nutrition was a former PH Youth Program that is now affiliated with the Healthy Schools Healthy Families initiative launched by Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and the Division of Community Pediatrics of Columbia University, and recognized as a separate group by Community Impact. The program now runs at P.S. 4 on 161st and ST. Nicholas.

When it operated under Project Health, FitNut promoted healthy eating and exercise in middle-school girls who were overweight and obese. In weekly meetings, the program offered culturally appropriate nutrition education, hands-on food preparation activities, and physical fitness sessions (including swimming, African dance, and yoga) in a safe, supportive environment. Volunteers also mentor participants individually to help them and their families set and achieve personal healthy lifestyle goals.

Asthma Swim

The Asthma Swimming Program was a former PH Youth Program that is now affiliated with Healthy Schools Healthy Families. It has been renamed Asthma Gym, having ceased its swimming program due to liability and insurance concerns, and is recognized as a separate group by Community Impact. The program now runs at P.S. 4 on 161st and ST. Nicholas.

When it operated under Project Health, Asthma Swimming Program provided asthmatic children ages 7-11 with the opportunity to learn the science underlying their asthma, develop the skills that control their disease through medication and lifestyle changes, and engage safely in cardiovascular exercise through swimming workouts.

TIDES

The TIDES (Type- I Diabetes Education and Support) program was a former PH Youth Program renamed Berrie Buddies and now affiliated with The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center, and is recognized as a separate group by Community Impact. Berrie Buddies now runs program at the Berrie Center at 168th and St. Nicholas.

While under Project Health, the TIDES program focused on diabetes education and management for diabetics ages 10-14 from Washington Heights, Harlem, and the Bronx. Through a network of peers and mentoring relationships, the TIDES Program aimed to provide a supportive environment in which participants could develop healthy habits and maintain positive attitudes about their lives. Past programs included interactive cooking and carb-counting activities, guest speakers, plays, Yankees games, and America's Walk for Diabetes.

UJIMA

Ujima was a former PH Youth Program. Though not affiliated with a new nonprofit, independent tutoring and support for former youth participants is still coordinated by the program's former physician mentor.

UJIMA was an after-school enrichment program run by Project HEALTH volunteers at Harlem Hospital. Ujima sought to provide a fun, nurturing, loving, supportive and positive experience for youth, primarily adolescents, infected and affected by HIV, offering each participant the educational and emotional support necessary to reach his or her true potential. Volunteers provided participants with mentoring, homework help, peer group activities, and the opportunity to develop life and social skills in a safe group setting. Past activities included projects such as murals, filmmaking, and cultural activities such as trips to the Natural History Museum and the Harlem Dance Troupe.