Brynn Gilbert from the nonprofit group Food Dignity recently helped coordinate a drop off of fresh fruits and vegetables to Volunteers in Medicine in Wilkes-Barre.
Behind the free clinic’s waiting area, Elsa Romero bagged up lettuce, green beans, bananas, apples and more for distribution to the people VIM serves.
The exchange looked like Gilbert and Romero serve different organizations. Technically they do, but they also are both service members for the National Health Corps’ (NHC) Community Health Fellowship program.
Some of the funding for their work is now in jeopardy. It comes through AmeriCorps, the national service agency, which has been the target of cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"The budget cuts that are proposed put our program at significant risk for being canceled, and that is heartbreaking," said Mary Theresa Mazur, program director for the fellowship.
"We have seen the good that it has done in the community, not only for agencies that help those in need. But for the people who come into the program too.”
'A really good opportunity'
In 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic was winding down, the Northeast PA Area Health Education Center applied for a grant to bring the fellowship program, which is in other states and other parts of Pennsylvania, to the region.
The organizers wanted to build a working population of community health workers to help ease the workforce shortages in healthcare centers and nonprofit agencies across Northeast Pennsylvania, Mazur said. The goal is to reduce health disparities and advance public health.
The center hoped it also would provide workforce development.
"We're a combination of things, but the benefits are excellent, so it's a great way for somebody to get back in the workforce, whatever their reasons may be,” Mazur said.
The fellowship serves Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike, Carbon, Monroe and Sullivan counties.
Their goal is to place 10 service members at 10 host sites, which are nonprofit, social service organizations or healthcare clinics.
The service members train as community health workers. They are placed at a host site for 46 weeks and work 1,700 hours. They earn $15 an hour and have access to health care and child-care assistance. Once they complete the program, they're eligible for a $7,395 educational grant, which could be used towards a student loan or for future education.
"When I came across this program, I thought it would be a really good opportunity to kind of merge all of my experiences into one and kind of figure out what that looks like for my future,” Romero said.
Grant funding threatened
The fellowship receives local funding from the Moses Taylor Foundation, the Scranton Area Community Foundation as well as the Spitz Foundation. But since its beginnings, a portion of money to pay the fellows is federal funding through AmeriCorps.
In April, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) canceled around $600 million in grants funded through the AmeriCorps State and National program, according to the Associated Press.
Many Democratic-led states, including Pennsylvania, sued. In June, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman granted a temporary block on the agency’s cancellation of grants and early discharge of corps members for those states involved in the lawsuit.
"I really think that holding back or canceling funding for this program would be an absolute detriment to the services provided in the community,” said Food Dignity Director of Operations Amanda Gordineer.
How the community benefits
Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) is a free health and dental clinic in Wilkes-Barre that serves Luzerne County residents without insurance and whose household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.
VIM views the availability of healthy food as an important part of healthcare.
Food Dignity drops off fresh fruit and vegetables, which they purchase from local farmers at market price, every Monday.
In early July, the waiting room slowly started to fill with people waiting for the free bags of produce as Romero and other volunteers packaged up the food. Some even helped Food Dignity carry in boxes of apples, potatoes and onions into the clinic.
Romero began her fellowship at VIM in April.
"The people that we serve are really great, and the community here at VIM is awesome as well, with getting people connected to the resources that they need and really helping them get necessary care and quality care free,” she said.
Romero said food is vital to health in general. She said with the cost of groceries, it’s hard for people to get fresh fruit and vegetables affordably.
"When we can get them out for free for our patients, I think it really lessens the burden on their lives sometimes, and can really impact their lives positively,” she said.
The fellowship attracts people at all stages of their life — like Romero whose research for her masters degree focused on how language barriers impact healthcare. Mazur said one service member was in their 50s and needed to get back into the workforce. Now, she’s employed by her host site.
"This is helping people rebuild their lives, or build their lives, or build on their career, or, you know, get accepted to medical school or the university of their choice for advanced study," Mazur said. "The community benefits. Folks in needy areas benefit. Our members benefit tremendously.”
'The best experience ever'
Past, present and future volunteers met up for lunch at Red Robin in Dickson City recently.
Gilbert had about a week left with Food Dignity. She learned about the fellowship while in her last semester of college. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after graduation, so she signed up.
Her first host site fell through.
"I'm so glad I did, because it's been the best experience ever,” she said.
Gilbert was sad to be wrapping up her time with the nonprofit.
"This kind of gave me, like, a set foundation for more things that I'm interested in, being with the community, and being out in the community and talking to everyone that I have talked to and have had experience with now, and all of the connections that I've made at Food Dignity,” she said.
Jel Ray also finished her time with United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania. She worked at their Angel’s Attic Food Pantry in Scranton.
She joined the program to help improve her English. Then she realized that her language skills helped people served by the pantry who struggled with English, especially older residents.
"I want to help them with and just being a bridge for them,” Ray said.
She said if she was on a break, people would wait for her to finish because they felt comfortable that she could translate for them. She watched people’s faces light up when they realized she spoke their language.
Ray, originally from India, was shy at first. Then, like she hoped, her own English vastly improved.
"I'm telling people ...'now my program is finished, so only one week left for my services' and they say 'oh, like, no, don't go, who is going to translate for us?'” she said.
Dana Scandura is new to the fellowship. She will work at St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton.
"NHC, to me, is mission-driven work, and the philosophy is fundamentally that you want to give power to the people and the community that you are in, and even communities you're not in,” she said.
Scandura will study to become a nurse. Through the program, she’s now a certified community health worker.
"I get the nursing perspective, but I also retain the perspective of a community health worker, somebody that is kind of a direct liaison in the communities that I serve,” she said.
An uncertain future
The fellowship is funded through at least summer 2026. And they are actively recruiting new members to join, especially in Sullivan County where the Laurel Health Center recently opened in La Porte.
"But then after that, our future is just completely up in the air, as (are) so many things,” Mazur said.
They have submitted for another federal grant to fund the program for three more years.
“We do not know if that's going to be approved. And then even if it is approved, it has to work its way through the new federal budget,” she said.
Mazur is hopeful. She said she has witnessed wonderful things happen in the community because of the fellowship.
The service members are a tremendous help to the nonprofits they serve.
"It's been a pleasure to watch everyone grow and serve and really understand what it means to serve their community,” Mazur said.
For more details, visit https://nepa-ahec.org/
