MAY 1999
Seven-year-old Muriel was heavier than other children her age. After participating in FitNut, Muriel has lost weight and now serves as a mentor to other overweight children in the program.
Twins Tyrone and Tashia missed nearly two weeks of school a month because of their chronic asthma. Thanks to the Asthma Swim Program, though, the twins’ health has dramatically improved, and they are learning how to manage their disease.
A recent immigrant from Haiti, Jean had difficulty providing for his family. Students staffing the Family Help Desk helped him navigate the bureaucracy of the Department of Transitional Assistance, and today his family is thriving.
The Fitness and Nutrition Program, the Asthma Swim Program, and the Family Help Desk are only three of 13 innovative programs designed by BMC’s Project HEALTH to improve the health of inner-city children. Made up of student volunteers from Harvard and MIT, the organization tackles the social, economic and medical ills that often plague urban families.
Rebecca Onie, a Harvard graduate and the group’s current director, founded Project HEALTH (Helping Empower, Advocate and Lead Through Health) in 1996. Frustrated with the lack of volunteer opportunities available to undergraduates and fueled by her passion to help children, she approached Barry Zuckerman, MD, chief of the Division of Pediatrics at BMC and chairman and professor of Pediatrics at BUSM, with an idea to establish a student volunteer corps at the hospital. Zuckerman eagerly accepted her proposal, and with only 10 recruits in tow, Onie launched the project.
“Project HEALTH volunteers give more than just time; they utilize their creativity, energy and leadership to serve the community,” said Onie. “BMC is the ideal outlet for them.”
Today, the Project HEALTH team consists of 150 culturally diverse undergraduate students, all of whom have completed a rigorous application process. Program ideas come front both the students (who are pursuing a variety of majors) and medical center staff. With the guidance of physicians, nurses, educators, lawyers, and social workers, the students work out the logistics of each program, from procuring funding to finding meeting space.
At the end of each week, volunteers grapple with the social issues of the families they’ve seen and weigh the impact of the programs through reflection sessions. Speakers, including community members and hospital staff, address a range of topics, from trends in public policy to the challenging aspects of providing services for the city’s poor.
“The students have not only empowered and educated families to help them meet their own health and social needs, but they have also developed critical leadership skills,” said Zuckerman.
All of Project HEALTH’s programs are free of charge. Offerings include a support program for adolescents with sickle cell anemia, job training, child-injury prevention and a food cooperative. The multi-faceted programs provide therapy, support, and education to chronically ill children, and assist families in locating housing, food or childcare.
With 13 programs currently running and more being developed, funding is a constant challenge. In the past year, however, Project HEALTH has raised more than $150,000. Most recently, the Boston Foundation provided $24,000 to support the project’s community-based public policy initiative. In addition, last summer, BankBoston became the project’s first corporate sponsor with a two-year, $20,000 commitment. Other sponsors include BMC, Harvard University, MIT, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Staple Inc., Medicine in the Public Interest and the Stride Rite Foundation.
Although it’s too early to measure the effectiveness of many programs, the project has produced some remarkable results. In the past year alone, volunteers have logged more than 20,000 hours designing, developing and implementing programs, and served more than 1,100 families.
As Onie and her corps look to the future, they hope to bring the programs into neighborhood health centers and other Boston-area hospitals.