Health Break: Empowering the Community: UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center and Literacy Pittsburgh

Camille: Welcome to Health Break by UPMC Health Plan, your quick guide to health, wellness, and how to make the most of your health insurance plan. I’m your host, Dr. Camille Clarke-Smith. This is your…Health Break.

When it comes to building a healthier future, access to education and community support can make a huge difference. That’s why the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center is here—to help connect individuals with resources that support wellness, job training, and lifelong learning.

Today we’re joined by Thomas Washington and Lisa Morse to hear about how Literacy Pittsburgh and the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center have joined forces to offer free education, career development, and life skills training to the community. Welcome, Thomas.

Thomas: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Camille: And welcome, Lisa.

Lisa: Thank you so much.

Camille: Thank you both for joining us on today’s “Health Break.” First, I’d like to get to know a little bit about both of you, as well as the Neighborhood Center and Literacy Pittsburgh. My first question is to you, Thomas. Could you start by telling our listeners who you are, along with a little bit about what the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center is?

Thomas: Hello, my name is Thomas Washington. I’m the program director at the Neighborhood Center, which is located at 6401 Penn Ave. on the east end of Pittsburgh.

The Neighborhood Center offers multiple services under one roof, really linking to the areas of social determinants of health. And each area (education, enrichment, workforce development, and health and wellness), we have partners that are linked to each one of those categories to really help the need of the community.

The UPMC [Health Plan] Neighborhood Center has been a real beacon for help, not just for UPMC [Health Plan] members, but members in the community and in any individual that’s in need of help. So the center has definitely been a great resource, and having some great partners such as Literacy Pittsburgh has really helped our overall health and wellness and well-being for the community.

Camille: Beautiful. So I take that question to you, Lisa. Could you please tell us about yourself and the connection between Literacy Pittsburgh and the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center?

Lisa: Sure. My name is Lisa Morse. I’m one of about eight area coordinators for Literacy Pittsburgh. We all do very similar jobs in different parts of the city. Our job is to match individual tutors with individual students who have needs. In addition to that type of service for our students, we also offer classes. Most of our classes are offered at our downtown center. We have a few other locations where we’re able to offer classes, and the Neighborhood Center is one of those main places.

Our goal in offering these educational programs in Allegheny County and Beaver County are to help adults move from learning to earning, and encourage them to succeed as workers, parents, and neighbors.

The main reason we’re partnered with UPMC is UPMC is a leader in health care, and there is a direct relationship between those who have poor literacy and [those who have] poor health. When we work together, we have a bigger impact on our neighborhood. When we work with students to improve their reading skills, this can have long-term health benefits both for them and their families, as they’re better able to read prescription bottles, health information given to them by their doctors, and follow-up care instructions.

Camille: You mentioned some services that you offer. So can you give us an example of the services offered by Literacy Pittsburgh at the Neighborhood Center?

Lisa: Sure. We’ve offered some of our neighborhood classes partnering with UPMC to get clients into jobs in health care and offering citizenship classes for those who are in the process of becoming U.S. citizens. We’ve also conducted several new student and tutor orientations there. We’ve arranged for individual students to meet with their tutors in the meeting spaces as well. I have office hours there once a week, so I’m available to meet with students and tutors there also.

Camille: OK. You mentioned earlier about taking them from learning to earning and I love that. I love that concept. So, Thomas, tell us how the services offered by Lisa and Literacy Pittsburgh have been received at the Neighborhood Center and what the community is saying, or you’re hearing.

Thomas: So they’ve been received very well, I think. As Lisa talked about, some of the citizenship classes that we’ve held within the Neighborhood Center, really linking those individuals once they graduate. So there was a time where they had 20 individuals graduate their citizenship and naturalization class. There were a few individuals, we put together a job fair, which they received jobs right after passing their test, which we thought was a great benefit. You know, having everything under one roof that, you know, you can go from, “Hey, I’m a citizen now” to “Here, I have a position in a job, viable job,” all in one space.

So I think things like that. And then also other resources that we’ve helped some of the individuals coming through Literacy Pittsburgh with as far as like basic needs and linking them to some of our community health workers and really being like a presence and an all-in-one support where they don’t have to say, ”Hey, well, I’m done with Literacy Pittsburgh, now I have to go out on my own and find resources.” The resources are already there to provide for individuals who are in need.

Camille: I truly love that. It emphasizes that learn to earn [philosophy] and getting them from education, but also providing a resource and access to be able to utilize that education. My next question is for you, Lisa. Can you tell us what the partnership with the Neighborhood Center has meant to Literacy Pittsburgh?

Lisa: Sure. Because of the Neighborhood Center, I’m able to suggest a safe, comfortable space with free parking for tutoring pairs. Students and volunteers meet twice a week for one and a half to two hours, and having a local, comfortable space to work where there is some privacy can be tremendously important to student progress.

Offering classes and orientations near to where students and tutors live makes them far more accessible. Free parking is a huge plus for many. We’ve been able to welcome groups of volunteers to conduct mock interviews with the citizenship students, and we’ve also had some state representatives visit us there.

In the 18 months we offered citizenship classes, 22 students became new citizens, successfully passing the test and interview. All of these students wanted in-person classes, but would not have been able to get to our downtown center. For those people, the space is invaluable.

So, Thomas, you don’t know this yet, but one of the students who received their citizenship is going to be coming back to the Neighborhood Center as a tutor for another student very shortly, which really is exciting to us. And I would think you’d find it quite interesting as well.

Thomas: Yes, definitely. I mean the like, full circle coming around and just with certain programs and certain things that we do, that’s…that’s life-changing, right?

Things like this is the reason why the Neighborhood Center exists—for us to be a space for partners, a space for people to see that there’s more than just the health care side to UPMC, and that we care for the community in multi levels and we’re working with these great partners and these strong partners. So I thank you, Lisa, for sharing that story. And hopefully we can have a whole lot more stories like that coming out of the Neighborhood Center with a lot of different people and organizations as well.

Camille: Well, we’re truly grateful for your work, Lisa, and thank you, Thomas, for creating such a space. And thank you for joining us today on today’s “Health Break.” I hope you join us again.

Lisa: Thank you.

Thomas: Thank you so much, Camille.

Camille: If you or someone you know could benefit from the free educational and career resources offered through UPMC Health Plan, visit the Neighborhood Center in East Liberty to learn more. And if you’re interested in Literacy Pittsburgh’s programs, check out LiteracyPittsburgh.org for details.

Find show notes and more information at upmchealthplan.com/podcast. Join us as we continue exploring health, wellness, and how to make the most of your health insurance plan in the next episode of Health Break.

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes. It is not medical care or advice. Individuals in need of medical care should consult their personal care provider. Views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of UPMC Health Plan and its employees.