At the end of 2017, Julie Funk, MS, RD, director of Community Health and Wellness Services at Chester County Hospital, received a request from the Honey Brook Food Pantry in the county’s northwest corner: Did the hospital have someone who could perform blood pressure screenings during food bank hours? Funk quickly said yes and thought of the perfect candidate: herself.
She not only lives in Honey Brook Township but is also a certified diabetes educator and registered dietician who understands the connections between food insecurity and health. She had worked with the Chester County Food Bank in the past, and thanks to the hospital’s Community Health Needs Assessments, knew that Honey Brook was one of “six hot spots of poverty” in the county.
Funk is onsite at the Honey Brook Food Pantry twice a month, providing blood pressure as well as health education and individual counseling. In an average month, she counsels roughly a dozen individuals about specific health concerns and speaks with about 75 others each session. Through her network of community partners, she also connects people to services. “The needs they bring to me are often far beyond blood pressure and nutrition.”
As Funk gets to know certain repeat clients, she is able to offer help tailored to their health needs. She describes a grandmother with unmanaged diabetes who works two kitchen jobs and is raising her grandchildren — leaving no time for a diabetes education class. Funk gave her a copy of the book that Chester County Hospital uses for education, and the woman comes a half hour before the pantry opens to talk with Funk about how to manage her diabetes.
“My role is about blood pressure, nutrition education, referrals, health coaching — and also kindness and compassion .”