Winter 2017            
From the VP, Community Health
Dear Friends,

We are pleased to bring you news of our progress during these tumultuous times, particularly for our staff and many in our communities.

The most powerful 90 minutes I spent over the past few months was with our team of community health workers at MGH Chelsea. They hail from 25 countries and speak 21 languages. I asked how I could better advocate for them and asked them to speak, if they wanted, about how the recent travel ban was affecting them and their patients. Nearly everyone expressed feelings of fear and isolation. Among the things I heard:

 

"I work with a mother with two severely asthmatic children. She is afraid to pick up their prescriptions at the pharmacy because they have her name and address on them."

 

"We celebrated a few years ago when my cousins graduated college and got jobs through DACA. Now they are afraid. Through DACA, the government has their names and addresses."

 

"I worry about my mother and sisters every time they leave the house because they wear the Muslim headscarf."

 

WBUR recently did a story with some MGH Chelsea staff members about these issues. Access the full piece here.
 
Similar themes came up when I met with staff at our MGH Youth Scholars Program.  Several of our graduating seniors are undocumented, and our amazingly dedicated staff have worked hard to identify colleges that support students like them.

 

I am so proud to work at MGH during these challenging times. Our leadership has made strong statements of support for our staff, patients and community members, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or immigration status. At CCHI, we will continue to work hard to carry out this commitment in the community.  Thank you for your interest and support.

 

Best,
 
     
Joan Quinlan
Vice President, Community Health
Featured Articles

(l to r) Wanda Vega, Hodan Mohamed, Ada Aroneanu, and Jordan Hampton

at the Chelsea SBHC
School Based Health Centers-- Keeping Kids Safe and in School
 
A school based health center brings primary care, prevention and mental health services to the place where teens spend most of their time--in school. 
 
The Student Health Center at Chelsea High School, a DPH licensed satellite clinic of the MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center, is one of the oldest in the state. Read more.

Healthy Families America Team 

(l-r) Yeymi Mujo, Fadumo Hirsi, Maria Yolanda Wigozki, Manuella Anorga, and Leybis Pena

(not pictured-Olga Sanchez and Roselyn Hernandez)
Healthy Families America Receives Formal HFA National Accreditation

Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America) announced that the Healthy Families America (HFA) program at MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center has been nationally accredited as a provider of high quality home visiting services to families who want to receive support to improve their child's health, nutrition and developmental outcomes. Read more.
CCHI Updates  
MGH Chelsea Food Pantry Expands to Serve More Families


Thanks to the generosity of Mark DeMichaelis of Olivia's Organics Charitable Foundation and our additional donors, Chelsea Creek Farms, D'Arrigo Bros. Co. of Massachusetts, Robert K. Kraft and the New England Produce Center, the MGH Chelsea Food Pantry moved to a newly expanded space in the HealthCenter.

 

A "bread breaking" for the new food pantry, serving MGH Chelsea patients and families, was held on February 16th. Chelsea city officials, including City Manager Tom Ambrosino and City Council President Leo Robinson, community members, MGH leaders and our generous donors were on hand to celebrate the expansion.

Kraft Center for Community Health to Move to MGH

  As the Kraft Center for Community Health approaches its fifth anniversary, founding Executive Director, Derri Shtasel, MD, MPH, has decided to step down, effective June 30, 2017.  The Kraft Center will also be moving its organizational home from Partners HealthCare to Massachusetts General Hospital. MGH President Peter L. Slavin, MD, announced that he has asked Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, to be the next Executive Director of the Kraft Center. Joan Quinlan, Vice President for Community Health at MGH, will assume administrative oversight for the center. Read the full press release.
Youth STEM Programs 
MGH's Stefania Khoda flanked by Timilty Science Fair students
Timilty Science Fair
The MGH/James P. Timilty Middle School Science Fair Partnership, now in its 27th year, brings seventh and eighth grade students together with mentors from various disciplines at MGH. The Science Fair was held this past month, and twelve of the students have been selected to go on to the Citywide Science Fair competition in early March.  Read more . 
 
Welcome to Our New Youth Scholars  
This past January, 31 ninth grade students from Chelsea, Revere and Boston joined the MGH Youth Scholars Program. These students are interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) topics as well as careers in healthcare and medicine, and were accepted to the program following a rigorous application process. Earlier this month, the students spent a weekend on retreat, getting to know each other and learning more about the program. They will soon be visiting the MGH Institute of Health Professions, Sports Medicine Center and a Psychiatric Neuro-Imaging Lab, before spending a week in the summer at the program's STEM Camp. 
Coalition Report

The Charlestown Coalition
Charlestown youth, EJ Slater, was honored by the Boston Celtics as the recipient of their Heroes Among Us award at the TD Boston Garden on February 27th. Slater, a founding member of the Coalition's youth program Turn it Around, was honored for his leadership and unique ability to galvanize his peers around community issues and reach across racial lines.

The Charlestown Coalition and Turn It Around will be hosting its Third Annual 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament on Saturday, April 8th, from 10 to 4 pm. More detailed information can be found here.
Healthy Chelsea  
Youth Food Movement interns prepared their 5th annual school food survey to be distributed to all Chelsea High School students at the beginning of March. The data will be analyzed by the youth, shared with food service directors and used to inform food improvements for the upcoming school year.
  
Healthy Chelsea's new eighth grade group, Teen Food Go!, is preparing their first ever school food survey for the middle school. The survey is slated to be distributed in the spring. 

Healthy Chelsea has also founded its second youth internship.  The Teen Action Project (TAP) is a group of high school activists looking to improve how Chelsea is perceived by residents and the greater public. Through education, mentoring and direct action, their mission is to celebrate Chelsea's diversity, create a dialogue and confront the barriers to equal opportunity.
Revere CARES
Revere Cares is pleased to announce their 2017 Mini-Grant Awards. This year, Revere on the Move funded eight projects totaling $13,500. They are particularly excited to include the first ever youth-led mini-grants! ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drugs) Initiative mini-grants totaling $10,017 were also awarded to six recipients. Read more about the selected projects here. 
 
Revere on the Move and its Food Justice Initiative partnered with Tufts University graduate students to implement a GIS Food System Mapping project as the initial phase of a community-wide food assessment plan. Findings will be presented at the Revere on the Move task force meeting on April 13th. Contact Sylvia Chiang for a copy of the report and presentation.
 
CCHI Out and About
Recent Events:
As part of Partners Healthcare's Medicaid ACO work, Partners Population Health Management held a workforce training on January 13th on issues critical for the Medicaid population. CCHI Associate Director Leslie Aldrich and Community Health Worker Ana Cabral from MGH Chelsea presented along with physicians, Cheryl Clark, MD, and Anne Thorndike, MD, on the social determinants of health. Click here for the slide presentation with audio.
 
Jennifer Kelly, Director of the Healthy Chelsea Coalition, presented at a luncheon for the Massachusetts Association of Planning Directors on February 17th at a session, entitled Advancing Neighborhood Infrastructure that Leverages Regional Development.
 
Upcoming:
Joan Quinlan, VP for Community Health, will be presenting at a number of upcoming events: 
  • Association for Community Health Improvement's 2017 National Conference, Elevating Impact Together, March 9-11, in Denver, Colorado. She will be featured on a panel organized by the Democracy Collaborative about Anchor Institutions.
  • 2017 CONNECT Symposium. The topic will be connecting families to financial success. Boston, March 28th.
  • Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) Culture of Health Deep Dive. Joan will present as part of a panel on GE and Boston's Community Health. March 30-31.
Danelle Marable, Director of Evaluation and Strategic Support, will also be at the Association for Community Health Annual Conference in Denver. Along with The Neighborhood Developers and NeighborWorks, she will be presenting about the Health Starts at Home project.