As COVID-19 continues to touch communities near and far, many vulnerable people who were already struggling with food and housing insecurity, lack of access to health care, and unemployment have found these systemic issues further exacerbated by the pandemic. Fortunately, many compassionate and community-minded individuals have been able to step up in this time of need to serve their neighbors.
In true Good Samaritan fashion, three of these driven and dedicated volunteers are Pennsylvania Hospital staff members. Instead of pausing their projects and waiting for the pandemic to abate, they opted to use the funds they earned from the Penn Medicine CAREs Grant program to give back and make a difference in their communities.
A Camden Cornerstone Perseveres
For ten years, the Open Door Clinic at St. Wilfrid’s Church in Camden, New Jersey, has served community members in need with the support of compassionate volunteers like Endoscopy nurse Melinda Lamb, BSN, RN. Whether a migrant worker needs a free blood pressure screening, a low-income family needs food for their children, or a homeless individual needs warmer clothes, the clinic — typically open on the third Saturday of each month — is ready to help. However, when the pandemic swept into the region, the level of need in this already vulnerable community increased exponentially. Lamb knew exactly what to do.
With her fourth CAREs grant, she purchased nonperishable items like rice, beans, peanut butter, pasta, and canned vegetables to fill bags that she and her fellow volunteers now distribute weekly. These essentials have been supplemented by fresh sandwiches made by generous community members, bread and baked goods donated by local businesses, personal hygiene products and diapers, and gift cards. Since the end of March, volunteers have distributed more than 2,000 bags to hungry families — sometimes more than 100 on a single Saturday — as well as 30 backpacks filled with supplies for local children returning to school. In order to minimize possible exposures, Lamb and her fellow volunteers have paused the clinic’s clothing donations, health screenings, and one-on-one consultations in the private room they built with previous CAREs funding, but they are eager to continue safely helping their neighbors, even if that just involves “a lot of teaching about how to wear a mask.”
“We purposely don’t have a huge group [of volunteers] working right now since we want to keep socially distant, but the kind hearted people I’m still working with inspire me to keep going,” she said. “So do the same families, the same children, the same homeless individuals we see each week. Everyone has been very grateful, and we just want to help however we can.”
Building Campers into Confident Leaders
Though children have accounted for less than ten percent of cases in the United States, COVID-19 has undoubtedly disrupted their lives. Whether their families are struggling financially, their virtual school days are challenging, or their communities have experienced disproportionate rates of illness, many kids are having just as tough a time as the adults in their lives. This summer, Lauren Pilar Cliggitt, LCSW, MSW, associate director of Child Services for Hall-Mercer Community Mental Health Center, partnered with Camp Sojourner to provide local young women with a much-needed break from the headlines and a chance to just have fun.
A West Philadelphia-based non-profit, Camp Sojourner helps girls become self-expressive agents of change in their communities. The organization provides year-round mentoring, college prep, and service opportunities to girls ages 8-18, as well as a summer sleepaway camp. Cliggitt regularly fundraises to ensure children from low-income families can participate, and she has referred several Hall-Mercer clients to the camp over the years. The camp combines traditional activities like nature hikes, talent shows, and campfire sing-alongs with “life-changing” leadership development and team-building practices that encourage girls to embrace themselves and advocate for others. This year, Camp Sojourner set up an adapted, socially distanced day camp in The Woodlands, and offered virtual yoga, arts and crafts, and online enrichment activities for girls who could not attend in-person. Cliggitt’s CAREs grant provided girls participating from home with the materials they needed “to keep the camp magic alive.”
“Camp Sojo is doing great grassroots work that has such a significant impact on kids and families. They bridge the gaps for kids who often don’t have access to resources they need to grow,” Cliggitt said. “These girls are the city’s next leaders — I wasn’t that smart when I was young! — and they give me so much hope for the future. Being able to continue supporting this work has been especially rewarding, energizing, and healing during COVID-19.”
Accessible Art Ignites Imaginations
When COVID-19 forced the Philadelphia City Council to drastically cut funding to cultural organizations, Intensive Care Unit nurse Laura Dudek, RN, decided to do her part to preserve access to the arts. Through her CAREs grant, she has supported the Da Vinci Art Alliance (DVAA), a non-profit art space in South Philadelphia that builds community through art and outreach. Dudek has been involved with DVAA for two years, and she was especially drawn to their summer project — a children’s coloring book featuring line drawings of “historical geniuses,” each created by a local artist in their own style.
The coloring books included a diverse range of unsung heroes — Angela Davis, a Black political activist; Chien Shiung Wu, a Chinese-American physicist; and Sylvia Mendez, a Hispanic civil rights activist, for example — illustrating that “genius” spans all backgrounds. Each drawing was accompanied by a short description of the figure, giving children the chance to learn more about these brilliant and impactful figures, while also escaping into the therapeutic and creative practice of coloring. After the drawings were printed and bound using the CAREs funding, 375 free coloring books were hand-delivered (with social distancing and masks) to families with children ages 3-8 years old in South Philadelphia, and 125 were distributed to the Caring People Alliance for youths in the Boys and Girls Clubs.
“This is the perfect COVID-19 activity; coloring pages are accessible to just about anyone that can pick up a crayon! You don’t have to be an artist to feel like you made a masterpiece,” Dudek said. “And I really feel like this project represents all of the things I love about DVAA. It makes me so excited to know that these kids will see such a diverse group of individuals and realize that a community becomes more vibrant when ideas from all people are respected, rather than those from one demographic. Representation matters, and accessible art propels culture.”
How are you staying connected with your community? Learn how to apply for a Penn Medicine CAREs grant to fund your own outreach at PennMedicine.org/Community.