Leadership Centre County: Learning from the humans in Health & Human Services
Leadership Centre County held its “Health & Human Services Day” for the current 41-member Class of 2022 on Dec. 15. Monthly program days like these are part of a 10-month curriculum designed to ensure Leadership graduates and alumni are better informed and skilled in active community leadership. Leadership is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “increase the community’s pool of servant leaders by bringing diverse individuals together for networking, education and exposure to community issues, opportunities, and needs.”
This year’s class started Health & Human Services Day by doing a “Poverty Walk” exercise facilitated by alumni Denise McCann and Morgan Wasikonis at the College Township Municipal Offices. Questions used during the exercise were designed to move participants forward or backward based upon their responses. The demonstration evoked a range of emotions as participants reflected upon the concepts of privilege, generational poverty and stereotypes. This was an excellent introduction, as many of the human services experienced throughout the rest of the day were created to serve individuals and groups with low income at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) in Centre County.
Next, the class grouped up and dispersed throughout Centre County for a wide array of experiences including sites in Boalsburg, State College, Bellefonte, Pine Grove Mills, Philipsburg and Tyrone (near the county line). Host sites included The Arc of Centre County; Bridge of Hope; Center for Alternatives in Community Justice; Centre County Chapter of the Prison Society; Centre Helps; Centre County United Way; Green Bridge Society; Habitat for Humanity of Greater Centre County; Housing Transitions, Nurse – Family Partnership, UPMC Home Healthcare; Skills of Central PA, Inc.; State College Community Land Trust; and YMCA of Centre County Anti-Hunger Program. These hosts really put the “human” in human services and demonstrated how they serve the greater community on a daily basis.
The State Theatre graciously hosted two more health care experiences. Marisa Vicere, Hannah Brewster, and Melanie Veeder of the Jana Marie Foundation conducted a suicide education and prevention program called “Question. Persuade. Refer.” Comparable to CPR, the QPR training can save lives by providing the public with basic lifesaving skills related to suicide. According to the Jana Marie Foundation, suicide is the leading cause of death for ages 10-24, more than all other causes combined. Death by suicide happens in Pennsylvania every 4 hours, however, using QPR training can create positive action and hope to reduce the number of suicides. Class participants also received a QPR Gatekeeper Certificate for completing the Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Program.
To conclude the day, a “COVID-19 Panel” took the stage at The State Theatre. The discussion was moderated by Becky Cunningham (The Arc of Centre County) where six area professionals provided deep insight and personal experiences in providing health care during the pandemic. The COVID-19 panelists included Bethanne Fetzer (A Journey to You, LLC), Andrew Naugle (Centre Care), Kristi Mattzela (Centre Volunteers in Medicine), Meg Clouser (Foxdale Village), Russell Cameron (Penn Highlands Health) and Randy Brown (State College Area School District). It was a very informative panel and was inspiring to know that despite challenges like nurse and other staffing shortages, local professionals like the panelists are passionately serving our community. Brown added that it’s important to “find joy” whenever you can especially during times of adversity. The experienced group also urged community members to “assume best intent” by administrators, to get vaccinated as well as the booster, to wear masks, and to use and trust medical information from authorities like the CDC.
Health & Human Services day was sponsored and made possible by Centre Care and Restek. When you consider all the issues facing Centre County (and beyond), it was encouraging to know that such challenges are being met, perhaps not always solved or eliminated, but being met with caring, competent, and skilled professionals like those we encountered and learned from during LCC Health & Human Services Day.