Wellness Center fellows include, left to right, Nafis Nichols, Joy Clark, Deitra Sewell, Jashina Miller and  Chardea Davis.

CHESTER - Crozer-Keystone Health System’s school-based health center, also known as the Wellness Center, recently accepted a charitable donation of $4,500 from BlackRock on behalf of the Wellness Center’s Fellowship Program. Since BlackRock’s founding in 1988, BlackRock has continuously been committed to supporting the local communities of the firm’s various office locations.

The Wellness Center Fellowship is a paid internship program for college students who participated in the Wellness Center’s programs during high school and who meet other criteria.  The Fellowship was established in 2003 by Crozer-Keystone’s administration as a means of recognizing the achievements of the Wellness Center and the outstanding character of the youth who participate in the program.  Students in the Fellowship work 30 hours per week during their winter and summer breaks from college, rotating to different departments within CKHS each year. 

The BlackRock donation will support the participation of one student in the Fellowship during the 2008/2009 program year: Jashina Miller. Jashina completed her freshman year at Temple University in May. She is presently majoring in social work with plans to obtain a master’s degree. Ideally, she would like to become a hospital social worker when she finishes college and have a successful career with Crozer-Keystone.

Two high school seniors who worked in the Wellness Center’s programs as community health educators and youth advocates during high school are selected to enter the Wellness Center Fellowship each year, through a competitive process. Miller remembers the process as being intense but worth the reward of being named as a Fellow. “It is a big application process. You have to fill out the application, write an essay, provide three letters of recommendation and show proof that you have been accepted to an accredited college. Then the candidates are screened by the Director of the Wellness Center and the Fellows already in the program. The finalists are interviewed and selected by Joe Saunders, president of Crozer-Chester Medical Center, and Gwen Smith, president of Springfield Hospital,” she says.

Nafis Nichols was in the Fellowship during college, and is now a full-time Crozer employee, working as a program assistant at the Wellness Center.  “The program helps you get a job and learn by doing hands-on training,” says Nichols.

Deitra Sewell, the current Lead Fellow, who is responsible to coordinate the internships each rotation, says, “This is an excellent program that provides us with the opportunity to build our professional skills.  The skills I’ve gained through the Fellowship are transferable to any professional setting, so no matter where I go after graduation, this will have been a tremendous opportunity.”

Miller feels that the skills she has acquired from her Fellowship experience are already helping her in her studies at Temple.  “It has been very rewarding,” she says.  “The networking is great too. I have met so many people in the hospital field and I have more opportunities now,” says Miller. “Bigger and better things are happening because of this Fellowship. I’m really grateful to BlackRock for sponsoring my participation.  ”