HealthBeat
Hunt accepted Into Institute
Charlene Hunt, program coordinator for the
North Carolina American Indian Health Board,
was recently accepted into The NC Native
Leadership Institute (NL1).
The Institute is the only culturally tailored
leadership training program in the state for cur
rent and emerging Native leaders who are inter
ested in sharpening their leadership skills,
expanding their net
1 1
wujrs, anu losiering
unity across all tribes and
Indian communities in
North Carolina.
Participants are selected
through a competitive
application process and
receive a scholarship to
cover expenses related to
mileage, overnight
accommodations, food,
books and supplies.
Hunt
I"he North Carolina American Indian Health
Board was formed in 2009 by the North
Carolina Commission on Indian Affairs to
focus on promoting quality health care and
healthy lifestyles within American Indian fami
lies and communities in North Carolina through
research, education and advocacy.
The Board's vision is to eliminate health
disparities for American Indian communities in
North Carolina so that American Indians and
communities can reach their full potential. The
Board has a strong partnership with the Maya
Angelou Center for Health Equity (MACHE) of
Wake Forest University Health Sciences.
Angelou Center director Dr. Ronny Bell serves
as chair of NCAIHB.
KAACP stands with workers
Elected leaders, NAACP officials and cler
gy from throughout the state joined State
Department of Health and Human Services
workers at Central Regional Hospital in
Butner on Thursday, June 5 to address a series
of long-standing concerns that have injured
many workers and created high turn-over
rates.
"My wife and I both sleep most nights
every week in a recreational vehicle truck
i * . i ?- ?
parKcu near ine nospuai
because we are forced to
work so much overtime,
including several days of
consecutive 16-hour
shifts. We can not get
proper sleep if we take
time to drive home," stat
ed Joseph Sterling,
healthcare technician and
UE150 union member.
Nearly twenty work
Barber
ers rued a group complaint, organized by Ub
local 150 of the N.C. Public Service Workers
Union, on May 7 with the state Occupational
Safety and Health Administration seeking
redress for injuries that resulted from under
staffing, severe forced overtime, lack of proper
training and input to safety policies. The union
workers have drafted a list of solutions that
was delivered to D.H.H.S. Secretary Aldona
Wos and C.R.H. Director Mike Hennike in
March: as of June 5, they had not seen any
response or action taken.
"State workers and union supporters are
part of the Forward Together Moral
Movement. We stand together," stated Rev.
William Barber II. president of the NC
NAACP.
The civil rights, clergy, union and elected
officials plan to gather testimony from work
ers and meet with Director Mike Hennike to
address the issues that plague many of the
D.H.H.S. facilities across the state.
City's homeless commitment
First Lady Michelle Obama, the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the creation
of the Mayors Challenge
io tna veteran
Homelessness last week
during an event at the
White House.
So far, in North
Carolina, Winston-Salem
Mayor Allen Joines has
pledged his commitment
to ending veteran's
homelessness by 2015
using the power of feder
Joints
al, local, and non-profit resources. Across the
country, more than 75 mayors and county offi
cials have joined the challenge.
Working in partnership with local officials,
the Obama Administration has already reduced
veteran homelessness by 24 percent since 2010.
Ending veteran homelessness by the end of
2015 is within reach, officials say, if progress is
accelerated. The successes of ending chronic
homelessness among veterans in Salt Lake City
and Phoenix have raised the profile of ending
veteran homelessness and prove that with buy
in from local officials and community partners,
this is an achievable goal.
"We're excited by the enthusiasm of Mayor
Joines and other local mayors are showing for
ending veteran homelessness in their communi
ties," said Region IV Regional Administrator
Ed Jennings, Jr.
To aid the mayors in pursuit of the goal of
ending homelessness among veterans, the fed
eral government has provided resources and
enforced programs to strengthen the country's
homeless assistance programs.
Local women give congressman
Blind Sensitivity Training
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Winston-Salem Industries for the
Blind brought its Blind Sensitivity
Training to Capitol Hill on May 19 at the
request of U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry
(R-N.C.), whose district includes lFB's
manufacturing facility in Asheville.
Led by 1FB employees Anastasia
Powell and Stephanie Davis, McHenry
navigated the hallways outside his office
in the Rayburn building using only a
cane, and took advantage of new technol
ogy delivered via cellphone to receive
emails and count money.
Technology plays a huge role in
bridging gaps that previously kept people
who are blind or visually impaired from
everyday activities or from participating
in the workforce. Currently, seven out of
10 working-age adults who are blind or
visually impaired are unemployed.
During the training, Powell demonstrated
commonly used technology called JAWS
(Job Access with Speech) that converts
text from a computer or phone screen to
voice, and a new app called Money
Reader that scans then reads the denomi
nation of dollar bills.
"1 would like to thank the Industries
for the Blind for providing this unique
training experience," said McHenry.
"With over 6 million Americans either
blind or visually impaired, the training
provided me a rare opportunity to experi
ence the world as they do. While I could
never fully understand what it is like to be
blind, this training gave me a new appre
ciation for these technologies and the
tremendous opportunities they provide to
blind Americans everywhere."
The idea for the Capitol Hill training
came after McHenry toured the Asheville
facility and learned about IFB's innova
tive community outreach programs like
Blind Sensitivity Training. Other aspects
of the training program include guide dog
etiquette (tip: let the dog focus on the job
of guiding his companion) and demon
strations of how a sighted person should
guide someone who is blind. Numerous
North Carolina schools, community
organizations and businesses have partic
ipated in the training.
"IFB promotes a number of outreach
programs across North Carolina designed
to help people who are blind or visually
impaired, and also to educate the commu
nities in which they live," said Powell,
"When Congressman McHenry invited
us to take our Blind Sensitivity Training
to the nation's capital, we jumped at the
opportunity to showcase the great work
happening at 1FB on a much larger stage."
1FB Photos
Anastasia Powell and Stephanie Davis with U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry.
Leftwich talks workplace safety in India
SIM C1A1 JO IHI CHRONICLE
Aaron Leftwich, director
of environmental health and
safety at Winston-Salem
State University (WSSU),
recently served as a speaker
for the American Society of
Safety Engineers (ASSE) in
Chennai Madras, India.
Leftwich spoke on the
importance of environmen
tal health and safety training
to safeguard the work
force. He explained the
advantages of applying
Lean Six Sigma principles
to the assessment of training
needs and methods of calcu
lating an organization's
return on investment of the
training. His presentation
was delivered as part of a
four person panel session
composed of executive rep
resentatives from the U.S.,
the United Kingdom and
India.
The two day event also
featured presenters from
Australia, Germany, Kuwait
and Spain covering environ
mental health and safety
topics of interest to a variety
of industries. Sessions
covered such topics as
behavior based safety,
ergonomics, global leader
ship and global trends in
occupational safety and
health.
This was the first profes
sional safety and health
conference administered by
the Society in the Republic
of India. Chennai is also the
birthplace of the India's first
ASSE Chapter and home to
more than 350 American
companies, supporting the
$100 billion in trade
between the two nations,
and more than 1.000 foreign
companies. ASSE worked
closely with the Indo
American Chamber of
Commerce, the only bilater
al chamber of commerce
within the nation.
Leftwich joined WSSU
in 2012 after serving as a
safety and occupational
health specialist with the U.
S. Department of Labor. He
has been a professional
member of ASSE since
2007. In October, he served
as a member of an eight per
son team of safety and
health professional mem
bers from the ASSE that
comprised the People to
People Ambassador
Programs' Safety
Professionals Delegation to
India. Leftwich is also a
member of the N. C. State
Safety and Health Steering
Committee.
Photo courtesy of WSSl'
Suresh Tanwar, vice president of Tata Motors of India served as the moderator for the
session which featured Aaron Leftwich (right).
Nursing programs at DCCC, UNCG form partnership
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DCCC nursing graduates enrolled in the RN to BSN program with VNCG are
(front row, from left) Heather Cassada, Amanda Lio, Elizabeth Newsome and
(back row, from left) Cheryl Bailey, Heather Burris, Lauren Styles, Jessica
Trotter, Amy Essick and Olivia Bailey with Kimberly Benson, director of nurs
ing programs at DCCC.
SH CIAI rOTHI CHR< 1N1CLE
Davidson County Community
College and the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro School of
Nursing recently entered into a partner
ship to offer the UNCG RN to BSN pro
gram on DCCC's Davidson campus.
UNCG faculty will teach the courses
which are expected to begin as early as
fall 2014.
"DCCC is very fortunate to have the
opportunity to work in partnership with
such a prestigious nursing program as
the one at UNCG." says Kim Benson,
director of DCCC's nursing programs.
"This partnership will provide access to
a four-year education to working nurses
in the local area. The program will be
cost effective for many DCCC gradu
ates as it will require less travel and
offer students the ability to take
required BSN courses through the corn
See Nurse* an A8