Centro Hispano of Reading & Berks County

 

Medical Interpretation, Case Management, and Information and Referral Services (click to view poster)

​

Student Intern: 

Johanna Rivas, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Community Preceptors: 

Virgen (Jeannie) Rubero, Centro Hispano

Ineavelle Ruiz, Centro Hispano

Michael Toledo, Centro Hispano

 

Community Site: 

Centro Hispano (Hispanic Center) Daniel Torres is a community center that works to support, enrich, and uplift the Latino/a/e community of Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvania, through many programs and initiatives such as the Senior Center, Casa de la Amistad, Abriendo Puertas, information and referral services, and medical interpretation services. At the Senior Center, breakfast and lunch are provided to any senior citizen (age 60+) who walks in, along with medical interpretation, case management, medical education workshops, health screenings (partnered with the Office of Aging), exercise classes, arts and crafts, English classes, and various other activities, classes, and workshops. The Centro Hispano staff work very hard to provide more than 3,000 meals daily for low-income seniors, for after-school programs, for summer camps, and for low-income families. During and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic, Centro Hispano remained committed to addressing the food insecurity in Reading by delivering meals to residences. Centro Hispano is also a national partner of the Abriendo Puertas (Opening Doors) program, which honors and supports family building by promoting role modeling, setting family goals, reinforcing crucial milestones in child development, and providing useful parenting and educational tools. The staff at Centro dedicate their time to setting up lesson plans and hosting classes for parents and family members through this program. Additionally, the information and referral services department helps clients with public benefits applications, applications for Section 8 housing, vital documents, SSI, disability, unemployment, resources for legal aid, translating documents, and much more. In addition to these services, Centro also provides a safe space for the community, is often the hub for community events such as health fairs, and has many more initiatives that strive to strengthen and improve the quality of life of community members.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern worked with many departments and programs. The intern assisted with case management; provided medical interpretation services, including interpreting at medical appointments and translating documents; called agencies for public services; helped clients apply for public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid and fill out disability, unemployment, Medicare, SSI, and Section 8 applications; provided legal aid resources and employment applications; registered senior citizens for farmers market vouchers; set up for a community event; and requested vital documents. The intern also provided educational resources about managing diabetes and the importance of oral health, and created and distributed a list of free or sliding-scale clinics in the community with the intention of making healthcare more accessible to those who are uninsured.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Johanna Rivas: “I feel that I do not have the right words to truly express my gratitude for Centro Hispano, or the honor I felt being able to provide for the Latine community while working alongside such an incredible staff. Everyone at Centro works tirelessly to support the Latine community of Reading with love and care, from the thousands of delicious Latin American meals made by the kitchen staff to the thorough and thoughtful services each case worker provides to their clients. Centro has a way of making everybody feel like family, and I wish to do the same in my future practice by channeling the same love and care every staff member carries within them. This experience has only reinforced my desire to care for underserved communities as a medical professional alongside an interprofessional team that can provide the best quality healthcare while ensuring every patient’s basic needs are met.”

​

​

Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank

 

Addressing Food Insecurity Across Berks and Schuylkill Counties (click to view poster)

​

Student Interns: 

Madhulika Badri, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health 

 

Community Preceptors: 

Santiago Castaneda, Helping Harvest

Alexis Fick, Helping Harvest

Lori Lowery, Helping Harvest

Jess Umbenhauer, Helping Harvest

 

Community Site: 

Helping Harvest is an organization that feeds Berks and Schuylkill counties. It supplies food to more than 300 local food program partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, after-school programs, mobile markets, and senior housing facilities. It runs daily mobile markets at 22 sites throughout Berks and Schuylkill counties, with an emphasis on distributing both nonperishable and perishable food items. Helping Harvest also offers a senior box program, which provides additional food for individuals aged 65 and older, and offers a Weekender program, which provides food for school-age students to take home. 

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern primarily helped with monitoring visits that Helping Harvest makes to the local organizations it supplies. Helping Harvest visits sites once a year to ensure that guidelines are being followed, food is stored safely, the organizations are distributing food in a sensitive and ethical manner, and clients are treated respectfully and with dignity. Helping Harvest is in the process of working with its partners to transition pantry registration to an online intake platform called Service Insights. Service Insights collects basic administrative and demographic data that will reduce the administrative burden on both Helping Harvest and its partner organizations and help make pantry registration more efficient. Most important, this system will allow Helping Harvest to use the collected data to see the direct impact it is having on the community and to study any gaps in service that may need to be addressed. The intern helped with this transition by going to partner organizations and working with volunteers to train and assist with the technology. The intern also helped with the senior box program by making phone calls to clients to remind them of pickup dates, times, and locations, and helped distribute food and register clients at mobile markets in Berks County.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Madhulika Badri: “During my time at Helping Harvest, I learned a great deal about what goes on behind the scenes at a huge nonprofit organization. I learned that addressing many of the gaps pertaining to the social determinants of health inevitably comes with administrative burden, and by taking that responsibility, we reduce the burden of that on smaller local partner organizations who are focused on getting food out to community members. Ultimately, this experience opened my eyes to the true interconnectedness of the many organizations in Berks County who are focused on providing support for community members.” 

​

​

Hope Rescue Mission

 

Understanding Homelessness in Reading: A Personal Perspective (click to view poster)

​

Student Intern: 

Amanda Ross, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Community Preceptors: 

April McNally, Hope Rescue Mission

Rob Turchi, Hope Rescue Mission

 

Community Site: 

Hope Rescue Mission has been a place of refuge for men experiencing homelessness in Reading since 1894, providing food, shelter, and support services for close to 200 residents. The new Women and Children’s Center (which opened in August) contains 43 residential rooms, a medical clinic space, a children’s playroom, and individual bathrooms, serving a critical need in the community.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern focused on facilitating the reestablishment of a telemedicine program at Hope Rescue Mission and addressing any medical concerns that arose. The intern worked closely with the Tower Health Street Medicine team to manage residents’ medical care and follow up on any issues. The intern also participated in several smaller projects, such as assisting in wound care, monitoring blood pressure, organizing residents’ prescription medications, and assisting in case management. The intern also hosted a class on smoking cessation. Every other Tuesday, the intern partnered with a physician at a free clinic hosted at HRM.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Amanda Ross: “Every day, women call Hope Rescue Mission seeking shelter for themselves and their children, and every day more men seek shelter here. Hope Rescue Mission is filling a critical need in the community for shelter and support. My experience at Hope Rescue has given me a new and more personal perspective on homelessness in my community here in Reading.” 

​

​

LGBT Center of Reading

 

Enhancing Health Services at LGBT Center of Greater Reading (click to view poster)

​

Student Intern: 

Oliver Gibb, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Community Preceptor: 

Aaron Rimeer, LGBT Center of Greater Reading

 

Community Site: 

The LGBT Center of Reading offers services and support for members of the LGBTQ and wider Reading community.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern helped with daily tasks such as helping guests visit the food pantry at the center. The intern also helped to organize the monthly health talks, which included contacting a speaker, helping them hone their talk, and then setting up on the day of the talk. Finally, the intern helped organize preparations for the health fair run by the LGBT Center in the fall.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Oliver Gibb: “Bridging the Gaps has helped me better understand the role a physician plays in helping a community to thrive. That may not always mean prescribing a medication or performing a surgery — it may mean making sure a person has resources to live, eat, and connect with people to live a healthier life. When I am a physician, I hope to have knowledge of local resources that will help me keep my patients healthy.”

​

​

Mary's Shelter

 

Nurturing Hope: Empowering Pregnant Women, Parents, and Homeless Youth with Love and Compassion (click to view poster)

​

Student Interns: 

Ana Maria Barrero, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health 

 

Community Preceptors: 

Christine Folk, RN, Mary’s Shelter

Amy Folk, Mary’s Shelter

 

Community Site: 

Mary’s Shelter is a multifaceted comprehensive housing and social service agency that addresses pregnancy, parenting, and youth homelessness through proactive preventive work, crisis intervention services, and stabilization back into the community. To provide comprehensive and inclusive services, Mary’s Shelter has adopted a holistic approach to assessment, intervention, planning, and evaluation. The goal is healthy, well-informed clients who are capable and confident in their ability to live independently in the community.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern played an integral role in fulfilling the Mary’s Shelter mission. The intern provided individualized counseling, intake assessments, and medical assessments to pantry clients. Through active engagement in Mary’s Shelter outreach programs, the intern collaborated with pregnant or parenting mothers and their children, creating service plans tailored to their specific needs. Notably, the intern took charge of drafting essential medical and basic needs assessment questionnaires for use by managers and clinic specialists in the future. The intern also conducted a class on the dangers of vaping and e-cigarette use, provided medical expertise to clients, and initiated a project involving youth residents that resulted in the creation of a meaningful art piece now displayed in the main hallway.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Ana Maria Barrero: “Working at Mary’s Shelter this summer had a profound impact on my personal and professional growth. Engaging in numerous conversations with case workers, community clients, and homeless youth allowed me to gain a deep understanding of the diverse needs and challenges faced by the community in Reading, Pa. Moreover, forging strong connections with the shelter teenagers highlighted the critical importance of providing unconditional love and unwavering support. This experience enriched my perspective on empathy, communication, and the power of fostering meaningful connections with others.” 

​

​

New Journey Community Outreach

 

Understanding the Factors Surrounding Food Insecurity and Its Impact on Communities in Reading (click to view poster)

​

Student Intern: 

Ashini Patel, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Community Preceptors: 

Christie Botterbusch, New Journey Community Outreach 

Jeff Laylon, New Journey Community Outreach 

 

Community Site: 

New Journey Community Outreach is a nonprofit organization based in Reading, Pennsylvania. It provides daily lunches to the community, serving approximately 250 people per day, and hosts large food distributions on Wednesdays and Fridays. New Journey also provides emergency food through its pantry, allowing clients to select the foods they want, which emphasizes the power of choice — something often not considered. Another main offering of this site is its donation-based clothing center, which allows clients to select clothing every month on an appointment-only basis. New Journey also provides space for Reading Hospital’s Street Medicine Team to host a clinic twice a month, allowing easier access to healthcare and building on continuity of care.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student intern worked alongside staff to help with a variety of tasks, both administrative and client-facing. The intern assisted with making, packaging, and serving lunches to the community; distributing food received from the food bank; and organizing and sorting clothes in the clothing center. The intern helped with tasks such as creating posters and forms in both English and Spanish, creating templates for the organization’s social media pages, and building a workflow to create ID badges for the pantry’s large weekly food distributions. The intern also worked to transition multiple practices that had previously been conducted on paper to an online format to improve efficiency and accessibility. The intern was able to interact with the community in a variety of ways and learn about the different challenges those in Reading face. 

​

Intern Reflections: 

Ashini Patel: “My time at New Journey was very meaningful and helped me to understand how strong the sense of community is in Reading. I felt so welcomed by the staff and volunteers, who always shared stories about their experiences growing up in Reading and many of the struggles that they faced themselves. Having volunteered at a food bank in Berks County earlier in the year, and now at a large pantry for the summer, I felt that I was able to get a better understanding of how COVID has greatly increased the need in Berks County, and how food insecurity can impact one’s health. I will carry the lessons and skills I learned from this experience with me into my career as a physician.”

​

​

Olivet Boys & Girls Club

​

Summer Camp at Pendora OBGC (click to view poster)

​

Student Interns: 

Ferdinand Anumba, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

Carter Van, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health 

 

Community Preceptors: 

Jafet Jamie, Olivet’s Boys and Girls Club 

 

Community Site: 

Olivet’s Boys and Girls Club provides education, mentorship, and inclusiveness to youth in underserved communities.

 

Project: 

The Bridging the Gaps student interns worked with the Boys and Girls Club, West Reading Elementary Center and Pendora to educate and mentor youth in Reading, Pennsylvania. The interns assisted Boys and Girls Club staff in creating art projects for students and educated students on oral hygiene and its influence on the human body. The interns worked with youth aged 9 to 12, making sure they felt free to express themselves in a safe environment. The interns collaborated with Boys and Girls Club staff to lead the kids on trips to museums and campsites and in working on science experiments. The interns built relationships with the students, discovering socioeconomic factors that influence their level of understanding.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Ferdinand Anumba: “Spending my summer at Boys and Girls Club gave me memories that will last a lifetime. My desire to work with Boys and Girls Club came from a curiosity to see if working as a pediatric physician would be ideal for me. Now I can say that a specialty in pediatric medicine is an option for me. However, my experiences with the kids created more questions for me. Questions like what factors create emotional stability in children? How can I motivate kids to do things that aren’t interesting in the moment, but will benefit them in the future? How can working with children help me to grow as a leader? Each day with the kids at Boys and Girls Club led to answers to my questions. For example, I realized that the type and duration of attention given to kids helps to dictate their emotional stability. I became aware of how the socioeconomic status of a child’s family influences his or her intelligence and mental health.”

 

Carter Van: “I was initially nervous about working with a group of kids since I didn’t have a lot of experience in that setting, especially with kids [that age]. However, as the summer progressed, I gained a lot of insight into how to really connect with kids, which can really be applied to anyone. As a future healthcare provider, I will need to connect with patients of various backgrounds, so the lessons I learned from this internship will be especially valuable. I learned the importance of respect, which really starts with learning their names. I saw how referring to kids by their names made them so much more receptive to what I was saying since they could tell I made the effort to learn who they were. Another thing that ties into respect is the importance of speaking to them as I would with any other adult and not to ‘baby’ them. I could see that they especially appreciated how I spoke to them with that respect in mind. Lastly, I learned to be patient and understanding. Kids will be kids, and it is important to see things from their perspective and try to have conversations with them to solve conflicts that they may face. I won’t be able to connect with every person I meet right away. I need to realize that patience is key in building a relationship as well as meeting people where they are. Overall, it was rewarding to see the relationship I developed with the kids and how I could help kids overcome their shyness and become more confident and social.” 

​

​

The Salvation Army of Reading

​

Empowering the Youth Through Unconditional Love and Grace (click to view poster)

​

Student Intern: 

Zoey HeeYun Na, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health 

       

Academic Preceptor: 

Holly Metzgar, DO, FACOG, NCMP, Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 

Community Preceptors: 

Lieutenant Hector Cid, Salvation Army of Reading 

Lieutenant Hyesoo Kim, Salvation Army of Reading 

Lieutenant Melissa Lopez, Salvation Army of Reading 

Marianghy Paulino, Salvation Army of Reading

 

Community Site: 

The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. For over 150 years, the Salvation Army has represented hope to millions of people in need worldwide. Through its community centers and a network of volunteers, the Salvation Army is on the front line each day in nearly every zip code across the United States — feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, providing emergency disaster relief, addressing poverty with a myriad of social services, and offering congregational life and educational and wellness programs for youth and seniors.  

 

Project: 

The Summer Day Camp at the Salvation Army of Reading Learning Center is an eight-week program held Monday through Friday for children aged 6 to 13. Children are exposed to a creative learning environment that enriches their learning through daily activities including arts and crafts, reading, and field trips. The Bridging the Gaps student intern assisted the staff in helping the children be fully engaged in daily activities while ensuring a safe and positive learning environment. The intern collaborated with staff members to plan, lead, and present to students a range of activities, including dance, arts and crafts, music, reading, board games, and physical education to enrich their educational, social, and personal development. The intern also worked to incorporate medical knowledge into programming to inspire students and enrich their learning process for all ages.

​

Intern Reflections: 

Zoey HeeYun Na: “Working at the Salvation Army of Reading Summer Camp has helped me realize how it is a privilege to be invited into the children’s lives and to be able to communicate with them about their thoughts and their feelings as they open up to us. As an adult, especially having the understanding of the Reading community these children come from — one of the poverty-stricken cities in Pennsylvania — has left me feeling heavily responsible to provide these children with a safe environment in which they feel safe to fully be themselves. Though at times it was overwhelming to be working with up to 25 children every day, both physically and mentally, the energy these children brought in each day to the camp in turn energized me to be able to push throughout the entire eight weeks. As I now see these innocent children as just beings that deserve compassion, unconditional love, and grace, I realize that is the true purpose of serving others and the essence of becoming a physician.”

​