Eight UIC students selected for Schweitzer Fellowships

Eight students from the University of Illinois at Chicago have been selected for the distinguished Schweitzer Fellowship, a year-long service learning program that helps address the health needs of underserved Chicago communities.

Named in honor of humanitarian and Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the Chicago Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, which is a program of the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, encourages students to become lifelong leaders in service by helping to address unmet health needs among vulnerable Chicagoland residents.

In collaboration with existing community organizations, each Schweitzer fellow will launch a community-based project, providing 200 hours of service. Using a broad public health lens, the fellows will work to improve community wellbeing and target the social determinants of health.

The UIC fellows are planning the following community projects:

• Nicole Camardo, from the College of Nursing, will launch sexual and reproductive education classes for adolescents and young adults in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The classes will provide information on contraception options and sexual health with the aim of reducing teen birth rates and unplanned pregnancies in the community.
• Kelly Moore, from the College of Nursing, will connect with older adults through Little Brothers–Friends of the Elderly, a national organization that provides social, emotional and physical support services to isolated seniors. Moore will discuss advanced care planning to help adults make their most important end-of-life wishes known.
• Marjorie Remy, from the College of Nursing, will organize health information sessions on mental, sexual and physical health aimed at adolescent Black girls at Ladies of Virtue in Chicago. The sessions will help provide a foundation for lifelong integrated health and well-being.
• Diamond Grady-Williams, from the College of Dentistry, will provide education and cavity prevention seminars to low income families and vulnerable minority populations. The seminars will help connect families to permanent dental providers that will meet their children’s needs.
• Jane Sobczak, from the College of Dentistry, will create healthy lifestyles workshops for Chicago youth and their families at Urban Initiatives, a sports-based youth development program. The workshops will provide health education to help create healthier communities throughout Chicago.
• Jessie Jingru Tan, from the School of Public Health, will launch a mental health assessment program and support for Chinese immigrant caregivers who live in poverty. Her project will provide home visit services and socialization opportunities for these immigrant families.
• Amira Kefi, from the department of bioengineering, will design a data-science class for youths in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The class will introduce youth to big data analysis with the goal of inspiring students to major in the field in college.
• Pearl Ugwu-Dike (not pictured), from the College of Medicine, in partnership with BeAlright, will develop a series of interactive workshops based in arts, yoga, dance, and creative expression for families seeking shelter from homelessness or domestic violence in the city of Chicago. The workshops will focus on developing movement and arts as conduits for expression as well as avenues of improving wellness, in addition to providing a safe space to explore artistic identity and build community.