Fifth Annual Partnerships Celebration Honors UCSF and Community Collaboration

Kevin Truitt, an associate superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District, presents the Staff-Community award to Lynn Dolce, Kim Coates and Joyce Dorado.

Tomas Aragon, of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, far left, presents the Faculty-Community award to Rena Pasick, Wilma Baptiste, Marion DePuitt, Micahel Shaw and Michael Huff, with UCP Council co-chair Jess Ghannam.

Elizabeth Watkins, vice chancellor for UCSF Student Aca-

demic Affairs, second from left, presents the Student-Com-

munity award to Michael Hong, Sarah Forbes, Gabrielle Jones and Brent Lin.

The University Community Partnership Council awards exemplary partnerships each year between San Francisco communities and UCSF for their commitment to jointly improving higher education, civic engagement and the overall health of communities.

Three programs were selected for the 2013 Excellence in Partnerships Award – representing faculty, staff and student partnerships with Bay Area communities – and honored at a celebration in October.

  • Faculty-Community category: The UCSF Abundant Life/Faith and Men’s Health Committee was recognized for its work on promoting healthy diet and fitness in the context of the church. This collaboration between the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and African American churches in the Bay Area has now reached 30 churches in four counties.
  • Staff-Community category: The UCSF Healthy Environment and Response to Trauma in Schools (HEARTS) project was honored. UCSF HEARTS promotes school success for traumatized children by creating school environments that are more trauma-sensitive, providing on-site psychotherapy services to students and developing more effective training and collaboration with SFUSD personnel.
  • Student-Community category: Students United for America’s Toothfairy was awarded for its work integrating oral health education in school and community programs. This collaboration between UCSF Student Society for Pediatric Dentistry and the Bay Area Oral Health Zone aims to expand oral health messages throughout the community to serve dentally at-risk children and their parents.

In addition to public recognition for their achievements, each partnership is honored with a commemorative plaque and recognition on the University Community Partnerships website.

Photos by Cindy Chew

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