Michaelene Davis, of Olyphant, finds renewed joy in walking her dog Rosie and other daily activities that had become fatiguing before she shed more than 70 pounds through the Obesity Medicine initiative at The Wright Center for Community Health. ‘I saw tremendous positive results,’ she says.

Michaelene Davis, 69, recaptures joy of volunteering and other activities with assistance from The Wright Center’s obesity medicine services.

Michaelene Davis attributed her sore back and daytime sleepiness to all kinds of factors until, finally, her physician helped her to confront the real issue: unhealthy weight gain.

The Olyphant resident, a retiree and frequent volunteer at local animal rescues, knew she had added pounds in the four years immediately after her husband’s unexpected death – a jarring loss that happened on the day before their wedding anniversary. The connection between her empty heart and expanding waist didn’t hit home until a visit to The Wright Center for Community Health.

Dr. Linda Thomas-Hemak, a practicing physician who also is The Wright Center’s president and CEO, knew Davis’ health and family histories. As a result of the trusted relationship they had developed over the years, Thomas-Hemak recognized something was amiss with Davis during a COVID-19 vaccination-related exam and took the opportunity to urge her patient to reflect on her developing weight issue and its possible root causes.

Davis followed her doctor’s advice: She did some serious soul-searching at home and during a follow-up visit to further talk about the matter.

“I saw tremendous positive results,” Davis says. And she can feel the difference, too, she says. No more need for an afternoon nap. No more consistently sore back and aching joints.

Today, Davis can again haul grocery bags up her garage stairs to the kitchen without pausing every two to three steps to huff and puff. She walks her two dogs, Rosie, a boxer, and Taz, a pitbull, with ease, enjoying each outing rather than viewing it as an obligation.

Even her volunteer hours spent at local animal rescue organizations – Adopt A Boxer Rescue in Olyphant and Friends with Paws Pet Rescue in Scranton – have a renewed sense of joy. “I can get down on the floor and play with the dogs, then jump back up and move on, whereas before all of that was a struggle,” she says. “The funny part is, while I was struggling, I knew I was having difficulty, but I wasn’t seeing it for what it truly was.”

Confronting complex disease

Obesity – the nation’s most prevalent chronic disease – is associated with several of the leading causes of preventable, premature death, yet physicians and patients are sometimes hesitant to directly address the sensitive topic and tailor plans that allow for long-term success.

Obesity medicine is an emerging specialty, and its practitioners consider that excessive weight gain can be caused by multiple, sometimes intertwined, factors: genetic, nutritional, environmental and behavioral.

The Wright Center for Community Health recognizes the complexity of the issue and now offers obesity medicine services, aiming to improve outcomes for patients by combining evidenced- based methods with individualized treatment plans.

The Wright Center’s two American Board of Obesity Medicine-certified physicians – Dr. Jumee Barooah and Thomas-Hemak – and other providers use non-surgical approaches to help individuals better manage, care for and overcome obesity. “By recognizing obesity as a multifactorial disease, and removing bias from the equation, today’s medical professionals increasingly are prepared to give patients the facts and the tools they need to take charge of their health,” Dr. Barooah says.

Quieting the ‘demons’

Davis, of course, wasn’t alone in determining how to adopt healthier eating habits.

She benefited from The Wright Center’s team-based approach to health care, meeting regularly with Thomas-Hemak and scheduling two consultations with registered dietitian Walter Wanas, the organization’s director of lifestyle modification and preventive medicine. Wanas spoke to her about choosing the right foods based on their ranking in the glycemic index – a system for gauging how fast and how high certain foods tend to raise blood sugar.

In the earliest days of her treatment, Davis had battled food cravings that she wrongly blamed on poor willpower. Turns out, the problem was metabolic.

“I had become insulin resistant,” says Davis. “Correcting my diet, along with starting the medication, turned my insulin resistance around, which quieted the demons in my head that werescreaming for those carbs.”

Based on Davis’ new understanding of the glycemic index, she started hunting for online resources to find the best food choices. She even began experimenting with recipes, for example opting to make her own salad dressing rather than reach for the sugary, store-bought varieties.

She reintroduced fruits and vegetables into every meal. Now she frequently makes fish the centerpiece of a meal and, if she adds pasta to the menu, uses it only in proper proportions. And if she goes out for a treat, it’s often not to a restaurant but rather a retail store where she can look for clothes in sizes that fit her slimmer figure.

“Now instead of being comforted by food,” she says, “I get comforted shopping for a new pair of jeans!”

For more information about The Wright Center’s obesity medicine services, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org/services.

No longer ashamed of his teeth, James Coursen can head out to public places with his friends and family, including mother Jennifer Coursen, and not feel as if he has to hide his mouth behind his hand or a mask.

Scranton resident beams after getting care he wanted at an affordable price

James Coursen shielded his top teeth from view all the time, even adopting an awkward way of holding his hand and fork in front of his mouth during meals with friends.

His smile had become a cause of embarrassment. His mouth, a source of misery.

The Scranton resident, now 21, sustained an accidental injury in 2019 around the time he graduated from high school. A heavy metal object fell and smashed into his mouth, he says, shattering the enamel across most of his top row of teeth.

Coursen, like many young adults who are only beginning their careers, had neither a high-paying job nor a top-shelf insurance plan to pay for oral care, so he coped with the situation as best he could. When he chewed, he pushed his food away from the injured teeth and carefully used only the back-right corner of his mouth, where his molars could do the work. He stopped eating all sting-inducing cold foods, including ice cream.

But he could no longer properly care for his teeth with his typical daily regimen; even the simple act of brushing or getting minty gel on the damaged, sensitive areas would radiate extreme pain. Over the next year, the situation only worsened. “It felt like my entire head was throbbing constantly,” he says.

At wit’s end, Coursen visited the local office of a large dental chain. It was recommended that all his damaged teeth be pulled. It seemed as if before he even reached the age to legally consume an alcoholic beverage, he would be fitted for dentures – an ego-bruising prospect that he wanted to avoid, he says.

Then a neighbor suggested that he visit The Wright Center for Community Health.

Today it offers exams, cleanings, X-rays, fillings, oral cancer screenings, emergency services, extractions, crowns, bridges, root canals, implants and denture care.

The Wright Center currently operates two state-of-the-art dental clinics, one at its Mid Valley Practice in Jermyn, which has six dental chairs, and one at its Scranton Practice, with four chairs. It also schedules dental clinics each month at its Hawley Practice in Wayne County and can deploy its mobile medical/dental vehicle, called Driving Better Health, to the region’s rural and other underserved communities.

“If you haven’t visited a dentist for a while, don’t be afraid or embarrassed to make an appointment with us,” says Dr. Caitlin McCarthy. “The Wright Center is committed to providing excellent care to every single person, no matter who they are or where they come from or their financial situation.” 

McCarthy is one of the providers who assisted Coursen during his extensive treatment, and she serves as program director for an Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency offered at The Wright Center since 2021 through a partnership with NYU Langone Dental Medicine. 

He sometimes struggles with social anxiety, he says, which understandably compounded his concern about flashing a smile that after the accident seemed more jack-o-lantern than Jon Hamm or Bradley Cooper.

Coursen’s lengthy treatment plan at The Wright Center wasn’t without its setbacks. When one of his initial temporary fillings dropped out, he was distraught, believing the pain he had been living with would never go away and the entire process might be doomed to failure. “They reassured me,” he says. 

For information about dental and other health care services available at The Wright Center for Community Health’s primary care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania, call 570.230.0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org/services.

Dr. Chaitanya Rojulpote, an internal medicine resident at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, provided treatment to Nina, an 86-year-old grandmother, who was on the verge of collapse when she arrived at the refugee camp in Medyka, Poland. 

Solo trip to Polish border town allows Dr. Rojulpote to deliver hands-on care and dose of hope

Bothered by daily reports of more bombing and bloodshed in Ukraine, 29-year-old resident physician Dr. Chaitanya Rojulpote of Scranton did more than simply feel sorrow for the people caught in the war’s path.

He did what his heart demanded.

He bought a plane ticket and made a solo trip to Europe, devoting one week of his vacation time to helping refugees displaced by the brutal Russian invasion.

Rojulpote, a second-year internal medicine resident at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education in Northeast Pennsylvania, teamed with a non-governmental medical relief organization that is dedicated to helping people in distress. 

He worked in its first aid field unit, tending to individuals as they fled danger and finally crossed the border from chaotic Ukraine into the relative safety of Poland. The refugees typically arrive there in waves, he says. They cross by foot through the guarded gate at all hours of the day and night. They are hungry, cold, frightened, sometimes dehydrated, usually exhausted and always uncertain. Most are women and children.

“What you’re giving these people more than anything else – more than medical help, more than food, more than water – is hope,” says Rojulpote. “You’re giving them hope that, after finally reaching this destination, it’s going to get better.”  

More than 12 million Ukrainians have left their homes since Russian troops invaded the nation on Feb. 24, creating what is considered one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises in history. An estimated 6.5 million people had been uprooted but remained within the country as of early May. More than 5.7 million Ukrainians had escaped to neighboring nations, with Poland receiving the largest influx: 3.1 million individuals – and counting, according to United Nations’ estimates.

News of the situation – combined with horrific images of civilians killed and injured – is compelling millions of people around the globe to feel a personal responsibility for the victims, as reflected in the ongoing outpouring of financial donations and material goods. Only a fraction of observers, however, will go to the scene as Rojulpote did in mid-April, and those who consider making the trip are respectfully asked to follow through only if they have the needed skills.

Rojulpote knew that health care workers were in high demand by aid agencies at the Ukrainian border. Before joining the effort, however, he brushed up on techniques he hadn’t used since his days in medical school in India, including how to close wounds. He visited the emergency department of Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital of Scranton, where two physicians graciously gave him refreshers on properly placing an intravenous line and on suturing. (He practiced by putting stitches in a Styrofoam cup.) He also watched YouTube videos about applying simple field dressings. 

Rojulpote’s skills would be tested during his brief stint at the border. He practiced on-the-fly medicine, offering the best care he could in the limited time that patients would stay. Most of the travelers were in a hurry to move on within hours, even minutes. In one case, he could only plead with, and then dispense blood pressure-lowering medication, to a man whose reading was dangerously high. The man took the pills but immediately continued on his journey, to connect with his waiting wife, when he rightly should have gone straight to a hospital.  

Several of the refugees whom Rojulpote encountered only briefly will remain with him in spirit for the rest of his life. He was summoned one night, for instance, to treat Nina, an 86-year-old grandmother who had traveled for two days straight before entering the camp; she was on the verge of collapse. From her, the young physician learned the power of resilience.

Similarly, a man known as Sasha, who each day waits and waits at the border gate, greeting every arriving traveler and hoping to get news about his missing family, demonstrates the enduring power of love – and kindness.  

Rojulpote decided to publicly share these and other stories of his experiences in Medyka, Poland – where he volunteered inside a woodstove-heated tent that serves around the clock as both a sort of urgent care clinic and a healer of souls – as a way of motivating others to lend aid when hearing about the Ukrainians’ plight or any other calamity.

“I want people to ask themselves what they can do to help,” he says. “And then the next question is, ‘OK, how do I go about doing that?’ Not everyone can get on a plane and go, but, whatever gesture – whether it’s donating or volunteering locally to fundraise for a cause – is going to help.

“If you have the intention to do good,” he adds, “I think you should just act on it.”

The physician is quick to point out his journey was supported by many others, including members of his Wright Center family. Three fellow resident physicians – Drs. Kashyap Kela, Princy Shaw and Richard Bronnenkant – adjusted their plans to provide clinical coverage in his absence. “They couldn’t come with me,” he says, “but they helped me to make the trip.”

Dr. Douglas Klamp, associate program director of The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Internal Medicine Residency, initially thought the younger physician’s planned international mission might get derailed for any number of practical reasons. Yet Klamp eagerly chipped in medical supplies, including surgical instruments and orthopedic support devices, then marveled as the plan was executed.  

“Chaitanya stuck with the idea and made it happen,” says Klamp. “It was an extraordinary and meaningful act that elevated all of us, especially when he returned and shared his experience with us during a presentation at our teaching conference.”

Rojulpote acknowledges that the same impulses that led him to Ukraine probably brought him to The Wright Center, where an emphasis is placed on delivering health care to the underserved and “helping those most in need.” “I think I was drawn to this place at some level because of its mission to serve,” says Rojulpote. “With all the noise and prestige that can come from going to bigger institutions, you can lose sight of why you chose a career in medicine.”

Altruism runs in family

Rojulpote was born in India but spent most of his school-age years in the United States. The oldest of three children, he was raised primarily in the King of Prussia area.

His mother teaches classical Indian dance, often donating proceeds from the classes to support children and various causes in India. His father, a software architect, has an altruistic streak that sometimes surprises even the family; he donated a kidney to a stranger, then politely declined to meet with the recipient after the successful surgery. The gift, it seemed, was more important than any accolade.

From Rojulpote’s vantage point in Scranton earlier this year, he assumed the conflict in Ukraine would be short-lived. After all, who would believe conventional warfare could rage in Europe in the 21^st century? And who would think in this day and age that people on the continent, and across the globe, could face a nuclear nightmare? To him, it all seemed unimaginable.

Yet the truth of the unfolding tragedy seemed to worsen with each breaking news story. Europe is coping with its largest refugee crisis in more than half a century. Russian shelling and fighting have reportedly damaged more than 40 hospitals and clinics in Ukraine, including rehabilitation homes, maternity hospitals and children’s hospitals.

Rojulpote first told a trusted friend of his intent to volunteer overseas. “There was silence on the phone, and finally he asked me why,” he recalls. “I said, ‘I don’t have a valid reason for you, I just feel like I have to go.’”

Then he told his father, whose response was swifter and more direct. “Yes, do it,” the man encouraged. 

A day before Rojulpote’s scheduled departure, however, he grew apprehensive. Should I even be doing this, he wondered. Then, as he passed a memorial plaque in the halls of Regional Hospital of Scranton, he noticed its inscription included the lines of a poem – a poem to which he had first been introduced in the eighth grade.

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being let me do it now.“

He boarded a plane in Philadelphia. A sign hanging in one airport concourse read, “United We Stand with Ukraine.” Two flights, three car rides and a frustrating number of vehicle roundabouts later, Rojulpote made it to Medyka, in southeastern Poland.

Camp offers meals, mercy

“Every volunteer and aid worker came to the camp with the intention of helping out these people,” says Rojulpote. “Whatever you had, you gave away. There was nothing to sell, only to give away.”

Even so, constant threats persist. Human traffickers ply their ugly trade around refugee camps, taking advantage of young children and others separated from their families. (Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country, according to published reports.)

Rojulpote had signed up to serve in a medical tent operated by Sauveteurs Sans Frontieres, known as “SSF” or Rescuers Without Borders. Its team there has treated thousands of people, mainly women, teens and young children. The medical tent contains a few plastic lawn chairs, often arranged near the wood stove, and a single bed. Plastic shelves are stacked with clear bins containing exam gloves, saline bags and medications organized by malady: antidiarrheal, antipsychotic, antidiabetic, antiviral, antifungal and antihypertensive. A defibrillator kit rests within reach.

From his post, Rojulpote, who was often dressed in five layers of clothing to stay warm, treated arriving refugees for hypothermia, dehydration, chronic conditions and a range of non-specific symptoms such as headaches, fever and fatigue. 

“When I went to med school I was 18,” he says. “And if you had told 18-year-old me that one day I would be the only night physician in a refugee camp providing medical aid in a humanitarian crisis, I wouldn’t have believed it. My younger self would have been proud.”

‘A golden heart’

Now safely back to work treating patients at The Wright Center, Rojulpote urges that if your heart beckons you to do something for Ukraine’s citizens, or others in need, listen to it and act today.

Learn more about The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education, and its residency and fellowship programs that emphasize service to vulnerable populations, by visiting TheWrightCenter.org.

Amanda Turoni, DNP, CRNP, FNP-c, a board-certified nurse practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, provides primary and preventive care services that cover the life span from pediatrics to geriatrics at the new Wright Center for Community Health North Pocono Practice, 260 Daleville Highway, Covington Township. The clinic treats patients of all ages and insurance statuses, including individuals who use Medicaid and are underinsured or uninsured.

Amanda Turoni advocated for the creation of a primary care clinic to serve her adopted community in the Moscow area

While driving in her rural community, Amanda Turoni, DNP, CRNP, FNP-c, began noticing empty sites in Northeast Pennsylvania where doctor’s offices once stood and grew concerned about an apparent decline in the availability of nearby primary care.

Turoni, a board-certified nurse practitioner and Lackawanna County native, soon began a quest, seeking a solution that would keep high-quality health care close at hand for her immediate neighbors and others in the North Pocono School District.

She dug into local demographics to demonstrate the community’s need. She talked with health care professionals and leaders of an area food pantry. She even surveyed families in the school district, gauging their interest in a close-to-home clinic.

Finally, Turoni summarized all her findings and presented them to the top executives at her workplace, The Wright Center for Community Health – pitching a plan for the organization to launch a small practice about 12 miles southeast of downtown Scranton.

The Wright Center evaluated Turoni’s proposal and her passion to serve. She received the green light.

The new Wright Center for Community Health North Pocono Practice – located in the North Pocono 502 Professional Plaza at 260 Daleville Highway, Suite 103 – opened April 25. The clinic treats patients of all ages and insurance statuses, including individuals who use Medicaid and are underinsured or uninsured. Its hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Appointments can be made by visiting TheWrightCenter.org or by calling 570-591-5150.

The North Pocono Practice is the ninth clinic operated by The Wright Center for Community Health, joining sites in Clarks Summit, Hawley, Jermyn, Kingston, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Each practice is open to new patients of all income levels.

“Our intent has been to establish primary care practices in locations where, for various reasons, large numbers of residents previously had lacked access to high-quality, affordable, nondiscriminatory care,” says Dr. Jignesh Sheth, The Wright Center’s chief medical officer. “Amanda’s proposal fit within our strategy and matched with our mission.”

The Wright Center received designation in mid-2019 as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, reflecting its steadfast commitment to serve vulnerable populations and eliminate common barriers to health care such as expense and transportation.

For certain residents in the North Pocono territory, Turoni says, the main obstacle to receiving timely care is a lack of locally based providers. “Many area residents have recently lost their primary care because physicians relocated outside the immediate area or are retiring,” she says. “So, the issue of accessibility is a big thing; if there’s not a doctor close to them, they’re not going to go. Yet they need the care.”

The new clinic supplies primary and preventive care services, covering the life span from pediatrics to geriatrics. It serves a patient population that especially can benefit from chronic care management of issues such as hypertension and diabetes.

Turoni envisions the clinic as a community hub, helping patients and non-patients alike. “If you want to establish care with us and become a patient who is seen here regularly, you can,” she says. “But if not, we can help you out in a pinch, too. That’s what I like most about The Wright Center. We love our patients, but we’re not exclusive to them. If the broader community needs our assistance, we will respond.”

Turoni, a Spring Brook Township resident and two-year employee of The Wright Center, previously worked in the emergency department of Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton. She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2019 from Misericordia University. The Taylor native is a 2011 graduate of Riverside High School, where she first exhibited a tendency to set a goal and methodically pursue it.

A former head cheerleader, she decided as a high school senior to invite all of the district’s past head cheerleaders, or “Miss Vikings,” to a season-ending dance recital. She scoured yearbooks, then contacted the women through mutual acquaintances and via Facebook, ultimately welcoming about a dozen women on stage, including grads from the early 1990s.

Turoni showed a similar determination while researching – and advocating for – the viability of a North Pocono Practice. In this case, however, there was more on the line than school pride and nostalgia. “The community,” she says, “needs it.” 

No longer homeless, Jennifer Parker, seen here holding 2-year-old daughter Naudia, receives recovery services and support through the area’s Healthy MOMS program. Maria Kolcharno, at left, director of addiction services at The Wright Center for Community Health, and Vanessa Zurn, far right, a Healthy MOMS case manager at The Wright Center, are among the team members who assist more than 135 actively enrolled women and their children.

The Wright Center-led Healthy MOMS program propels former Lake Ariel woman as she moves from homelessness to a whole new life

Homeless and pregnant, Jennifer Parker didn’t know in the summer of 2019 if she could take care of herself, much less a baby.

Then 35 years old and struggling with addiction, she had been using illegal substances including cocaine and heroin for about half of her life. The former Lake Ariel resident had a criminal record and little else to her name.

She was encouraged to schedule an appointment with a case manager at a relatively new program in Northeast Pennsylvania – the Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support program, known simply as Healthy MOMS. 

After a brief conversation, the case manager directly asked: “Do you want to keep this baby?” Parker, who at the time had no place to stay, no shoes on her feet and a single spare shirt that she carried in a shopping bag, answered “yes.”

The Healthy MOMS program was launched locally in late 2018, aiming to help pregnant women and new mothers overcome addiction and embrace a life in recovery. Participants are offered blanket services that include medication-assisted treatment and addiction services, counseling, primary health care, OB-GYN care, parenting tips, legal advice and a range of other supports.

The program promotes the well-being of both mom and newborn, ideally engaging them in wrap-around services until the child turns 2 years old.

“Since its launch three years ago in response to the opioid crisis, the Healthy MOMS program has become a widely recognized and respected resource for women who face the dual challenge of coping with a substance use disorder and juggling the complexities of raising a young child,” says Maria Kolcharno, The Wright Center’s director of addiction services and a key leader of the Healthy MOMS program.

The program has served mothers as young as 14, but most are in their late 20s and 30s. Named after a program of the same name in Ohio, it was introduced in this region as a pilot program in two counties, with initial grant funding secured by the Lackawanna/Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Today, it assists women in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties. 

For moms-to-be like Parker, participation in the Healthy MOMS program can be transforming. “From the time I entered the program until I had my daughter, it was only three or four weeks,” says Parker. “But everything was different.”

The Healthy MOMS team quickly found a safe place for Parker to sleep, so she wasn’t on the street or staying overnight with strangers. She received clothes and shoes. She was linked to multiple community-based programs and services, especially taxi and ride-sharing services to get to all of her important appointments. And she and her unborn baby received proper health care.

Over time, Parker’s habits and even her appearance changed. When interviewed for this article, she was 17 months sober and seeking to enroll her 2-year-old daughter in day care. Her goal: Pursue training in a cosmetology program and ultimately open her own salon.

Parker’s turnaround in 24 months serves as a stunning example to the Healthy MOMS team of what can be achieved when a woman is receptive to help and supported not by a single organization, but rather by an entire caring community.

Not so long ago, Parker believed her disease had such a grip on her life that she couldn’t tend to her own basic needs. “Now,” she says, “I can’t imagine not being sober.”

To contact The Wright Center for Community Health-led Healthy MOMS program or get more information, call 570.955.7821 or visit HealthyMOMS.org.

Partnership with Community Intervention Center offers safety net to those in need of shelter and ‘fresh start’

Bounced out of foster care when she turned 18, Angela Powers spent a “rough” five years dealing with homelessness, often staying on the streets of New York City’s Times Square.

She then moved to and worked in Scranton, where her fortunes seemed on the upswing. But the house in which she lived in 2007 was condemned, thrusting her back into an uncertain and unsafe situation. “I had no relatives in Scranton,” Powers recalls. “I had no friends.”

She turned to the Community Intervention Center (CIC) – a now 50-year-old nonprofit in Scranton that provides shelters, apartment-style supportive housing, case management and related services for historically marginalized populations such as adults who are experiencing homelessness.

While at the drop-in site, The Wright Center’s team will sometimes distribute hygiene products, blankets and other essentials to those who want them. And the team offers “to-go packages,” each containing bottled water as well as easy-to-carry foods such as sandwiches and breakfast sandwich bars.

“The CIC’s clients are so appreciative of the items and services that we are able to provide them during our visits,” says Allison LaRussa, director of health humanities at The Wright Center. “It’s a privilege to get to know these individuals and to spend time talking and sharing stories with them, as I have, while recently assisting in the painting of a mural there that enlivens the space and reflects their hope for brighter days ahead.” 

The Wright Center and CIC not only share a common purpose when it comes to helping marginalized communities, they also share proximity. The nonprofits’ headquarters in the city are about 1-mile apart. That’s especially convenient if CIC clients require speedy treatment for a health-related issue, says longtime CIC employee Jason Griffiths.

“The Wright Center allows us to make an appointment for our clients, and they get right in,” says Griffiths, a permanent supportive housing case manager. “That’s great for us, and for the client.”

At The Wright Center’s Scranton Practice, for example, patients have the convenience of going to a single site to access medical, dental and behavioral health services. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay.

The Wright Center’s Patient & Community Engagement team goes to the CIC regularly, with trays of pizza in hand, engaging clients in fun activities such as bingo games and holiday crafts. Most recently, with guidance from LaRussa, about 15 CIC clients completed the mural project titled, “Instilling Hope.”

Hope can sometimes be hard to find for people in Lackawanna County who are classified as homeless, previously estimated at 150 or more individuals who are unsheltered or are sheltered in emergency/transitional housing. That’s why, after a half-century of service, the CIC’s daily operation continues to be so essential to individuals – and to the Greater Scranton community.

“We have 26 apartments in which we’ve taken 26 people off the streets who used to live in abandoned buildings and under bridges and put them into permanent supportive housing,” says Griffiths. “They have us as a case manager to help them get back on their feet.”

Powers can attest that the CIC and its community partners are able to successfully deliver the services – and, just as important, the psychological boost – to change the trajectory of a person’s life.

“This drop-in center is where you can get a fresh start,” she says. “It’s not just about taking a shower. It’s not just about having somewhere to have a cup of coffee. It’s about feeling cared for and accepted.”

Learn more about the Community Intervention Center by visiting its website, communityinterventioncenter.net. For more information about The Wright Center for Community Health and its subsidiary, The Wright Center for Patient & Community Engagement, visit thewrightcenter.org or call 570.941.0630.