Project HEALTH was founded in February 1996 by ten Harvard University undergraduates as a pilot program in the Department of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. Led by Harvard sophomore Rebecca Onie and Dr. Barry Zuckerman, Project HEALTH set out to confront barriers to proper health faced by low-income families and engage undergraduates in intense, entrepreneurial service.
Between 1996 and 1998, Project HEALTH launched its first programs, including the Family Help Desk, Asthma Swimming Program, Girls Fitness and Nutrition Program, and STRIVE Sickle Cell Teen Group. In August 1998, a Boston Globe article about Project HEALTH captured the interest of both Lifespan, the medical group supporting Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and students at Brown University. Together, they united to bring Project HEALTH to Providence, Rhode Island.
In September 1999, Project HEALTH brought together Harlem Hospital Center physicians and Columbia University undergraduates to serve the well-documented pediatric health needs of the Harlem community. In July 2001, with the support of the Novartis U.S. Foundation, Project HEALTH established its fourth site in the nation’s capital, partnering with the George Washington University and Children’s National Medical Center. Currently, Project HEALTH is working in partnership with the Baltimore Health Department and Baltimore HealthCare Access, Inc. to bring its model to the city of Baltimore.
OUR FOUNDERS
Rebecca Onie co-founded Project HEALTH during her second year at Harvard College. After graduation, she served as Executive Director of Project HEALTH for three years, overseeing Project HEALTH’s growth to Providence and Harlem. In October 1999, Rebecca received the Do Something Brick Award for Community Leadership. From 600 applicants across the country, Rebecca was selected as one of ten “dynamic young people under the age of thirty, with the passion and drive to improve their communities by developing innovative strategies to create sustainable, positive change.” Rebecca attended Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a research assistant for Professors Laurence Tribe and Lani Guinier. Upon graduating, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and an associate at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., a boutique civil rights law firm in Chicago, Illinois, where she represented community health centers, affordable housing developers, nonprofit organizations, and plaintiffs in employment discrimination and civil rights cases. Rebecca has served on Project HEALTH’s board since June 2002, and in February 2006, she returned to the organization as Executive Director.
Barry Zuckerman, M.D., is Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at Boston University School of Medicine, and Chief of Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Zuckerman has developed and implemented programs for children in Boston and throughout the country, which emphasize prevention and extend beyond traditional medical care.
Dr. Zuckerman founded the Reach Out and Read Program (ROR) at Boston Medical Center in 1989 which now is in over 400 additional sites nationwide. ROR promotes literacy for young children in primary care settings by arranging for pediatricians to give a book to a child at every patient visit, starting at six months. Dr. Zuckerman also founded the Boston Training Center for Infants, which supports doctors, nurses, social workers, educators, graduate students, and others who work with young children and their parents, by disseminating knowledge regarding the “whole child – whole family” approach to care.
Dr. Zuckerman has authored more than 120 scientific publications emphasizing the impact of biological, social, health services and psychological factors on children’s health and development. He has served as a visiting professor and named lecturer at thirteen medical schools, an invited lecturer to seven countries, and a member of four editorial boards. In addition, he has made numerous presentations to the United States Congress, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Legislature, the National Academy of Sciences, and parent groups.
Dr. Zuckerman has served a member of the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health for the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Center for Children and Poverty. In recognition of his work on behalf of children and families, Dr. Zuckerman has received a National Leadership Award from the Children’s Defense Fund.