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Community of Hope Health Services Center
2250 Champlain St NW
Washington, DC 20009

www.communityofhopedc.org

Site Description
Community of Hope (COH) is a nonprofit community-based organization in Washington DC that has been serving the city’s low income and homeless adults and children for over 25 years; providing health care, housing with supportive services educational enrichment programs and spiritual support to residents of the surrounding Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights neighborhoods and throughout the city. Over the past 7 years, students from the ISCOPES Program have been working with the Community of Hope (COH) Health Services Center, one of the four core operating centers at COH. 

The COH Health Services Center provides primary care services, health education, and preventative care to adults, families and children, as well as specialized health services such as prenatal and HIV/AIDS care. The COH Health Services Center also has a full-time school nurse assigned to assist with student health needs at The Marie Reed Community Learning Center, a District of Columbia elementary school that is co-located next to the COH Health Clinic in the Adams Morgan area. The Marie Reed Community Learning Center serves approximately 400 elementary school students in grades pre-K through 6th grade; seventy percent of whom are Hispanic, 25% are African American, and 70% qualify for reduced meal programs.

Expectations of Team Members
Expectations include active individual student participation and contributions, and interdisciplinary team collaboration with hands-on involvement in the community with guidance from community and faculty advisors. Expectations for participation will be based upon student course requirements (credit vs. volunteer), but will include scheduled monthly meetings, collaborative or independent work in between meetings, and on-site activities.

Anticipated Project(s)
Students will work as a consultative team to assist the Marie Reed/COH community advisors in meeting their goals. It is hoped that the 2007-08 COH ISCOPES team will build upon past year activities at The Marie Reed Community Learning Center and collaborate with the community and academic advisors to complete the following: 1) provide elementary school staff with feedback on Body Mass Index levels, 2) revise lesson plans focused on diet and exercise based upon experiences and recommendations from COH students and advisors following last year’s implementation, 3) develop new lesson plans targeting students and parents, and 4) implement and evaluate those interventions. 

Past Projects of the COH team at the Marie Reed Community Learning Center

• The COH Team wrote a series of newsletter articles for the Marie Reed school entitled “Health Highlights” that were published in English and Spanish and distributed to parents. Sample topics included: “What can I do to help my son or daughter to lose weight?”; “Why should I be concerned about fire safety?”; “I think my child is being bullied at school, what should I do?”; “What can I do to help my child to eat the right foods?”
• The COH Team provided the school with calculations of Body Mass Index (BMI) using height and weight data that are obtained on all children in the first, fourth, and sixth grades annually as part of regular school assessments.
• Development and implementation of a lesson plan for 6th grade elementary school children on the importance of diet and exercise and to give them a basic school students to increase understanding of calories, food labels, and exercise – including the balance between energy inputs (food) and outputs (exercise).

Past Projects at the Community of Hope Health Services Center

• Adolescent client chart reviews were conducted to identify the number of clients served, client demographics (gender, schools, zip code of their residences), and the reasons for and the frequency of clinic visits.
• A survey of adolescent clients was conducted to identify client risk and protective factors perceptions of COH services received, and service needs in order to identify areas for future intervention. 
• A brochure was developed for adolescents that explained their patient’s rights in relation to provider-client relationships and confidentiality of medical information.
• A screening questionnaire was developed that could be used by COH staff to assess adolescent “risk behaviors” (e.g., substance use, eating and exercise, violence, sexual behavior) and facilitate provider discussions with clients about sensitive topics and concerns. 
• Community resource guides were developed for providers and clients on obesity, and the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for weight and obesity were distributed to providers along with best practices for prevention. 

Additional information (coming soon)

• Community of Hope Team Project: 2004-2005
• Community of Hope Team Project: 2003-2004
• Executive Summary Fall 2003
• Team Project: 2001