Drexel University’s CNHP Community Wellness Heal Unite Bridges is housed within the Dornseife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, a center established in 2017 dedicated to addressing the social determinants and community factors that impact the health of residents of Mantua, Powelton Village and beyond.
HUB differentiates itself from other clinics and programs by focusing on preventive care and working with communities to initiate programs and initiatives that improve the quality of life, health, and health outcomes for residents of these areas. HUB focuses on seven key areas: chronic disease, access to nutrition and healthy foods, access to physical abilities, behavioral/mental health, sexual/reproductive health, environmental health, and access to health care. HUB is staffed by a multidisciplinary mix of Drexel University volunteers and licensed health professionals from a variety of backgrounds.
Monica Harmon, executive director of the Community Wellness HUB, is a public health nurse, researcher and educator who focuses on the many social and cultural determinants of health that can lead to disease. Harmon emphasized the importance of establishing the HUB, especially through the Dornseife Center.
“There are community conversations and community members [in the areas of Powelton Village and Mantua] We were told there was no place in our community to get help.”
She explained that Mantua residents have to walk multiple neighborhoods to receive medical care at the nearest Penn Presbyterian Hospital. This, she noted, has a serious impact on the health and wellness of community members in these areas. HUB aims to bridge the gap between medical needs and available services. HUB’s programs include services such as pop-ups and chats with medical professionals.
A few years after its launch in 2017, Dana Dornsife, founder and chief mission and strategy officer of the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, became interested in the hub and decided to leverage the foundation’s resources to establish a Cancer Wellness Hub that would expand the distribution of resources to patients and families battling cancer. The hub program provides information about cancer, ways to navigate the complex healthcare system as a cancer patient, and most importantly, connects people with others in their neighborhood who have been diagnosed with cancer.
“I can’t tell you how many people talk at meetings about how they’ve had breast cancer or their father has had prostate cancer, and some of them say, oh, I’ve felt the same way and I’ve done the same thing. And it also lets people know that they’re not alone,” Harmon said.
The HUB aims to recognize the trauma occurring in the areas where the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University are located, and the impact the creation of University City has had on those who already live in the area. Structural racism requires HUB volunteers and employees to earn the trust and become true partners with community members.
“Researchers and students from surrounding institutions often ask questions of community members to obtain information, only to be told they never hear from them again. I am very committed to building this mutually beneficial partnership,” Harmon emphasized.
The HUB prioritizes giving information it learns from its community members back to the community as a resource and strives to listen to the community.
Last year’s HUB efforts were designed to hear the voices of both men and women through two community conversation events. The health needs of the two groups are different, and historically men have been reluctant to speak openly about their health concerns. These conversations, which allowed people to feel heard and cared about, fostered many connections between community members.
Harmon, in particular, has unique insight into both the inner workings of Drexel University (which he explains has a reputation for “always taking” from students) and having been educated there and participated in the summer and after-school programs offered by University City.
“This job requires both head and heart,” Harmon said, echoing the sentiments of many area residents affected by the HUB.
“We have to take on the words and the spirit of members of our community who have never been asked to have a seat at the table before. So it comes down to who else isn’t having a voice and how do we get them to have a voice?”
Harmon emphasized the importance of student and faculty involvement in the HUB, explaining further that it is an interdisciplinary organization that welcomes students and volunteers with a variety of health-related and non-health-related majors, interests and passions.
“There’s a place for all of us. All of our skills are needed. Community members are experts, but they may have skills that we as community members don’t understand. We want students to interact with the community in some way while they’re in school.”
Harmon is also the director of the Honors College’s interprofessional class, HNRS I380, where she has mentored students majoring in chemistry, computer engineering, public health and nursing. She emphasized diversity of thought, experience and knowledge, which she said when brought together, leads to productive and impactful conversations – exactly the conversations the HUB aims to foster with its community.
