UDM College of Health Professions alumni recently discussed how they apply their education to change the lives of underprivileged people in communities as near as Detroit and as far away as Haiti and Guatemala.

Using a slideshow and photographs, participants of the discussion titled “Living the Mission: Health Care on the Front Lines,” hoped to inspire their audience of future CHP alumni.

From left: Alumni Council President Nancy Dillon '71; Mary Ellen Howard, RSM, '68; CHP Dean Suzanne Mellon; Todd Ray, assistant professor, Health Services/Health Services Administration; Sheila Keefe, RN, '67.

The panelists took turns at the podium with Mary Ellen Howard, RSM '68, executive director of St. Frances Cabrini Clinic of Most Holy Trinity Church in Detroit, speaking first.  She described the strategies of her job as she strives daily to improve the clinic she has directed for more than 10 years.  She has succeeded by voicing her opinion, holding elected officials accountable for their actions and using the media to tell newsworthy stories about the clinic. She believes educating and involving the patients to determine the clinic’s needs are vital to achieving the clinic’s operating goals.  Sr. Howard’s final message to the group touched on volunteerism as she strongly encouraged students and alumni to support their local, free health clinics.

A service mission that took Todd Ray, CHP assistant professor and volunteer health care provider, to South America prompted him to share his experience at this special presentation.  Ray accompanied a UDM student group to an impoverished community in Guatemala, made possible by a joint venture with Central American Ministries. He called the trip an “alternative spring break” as the students spent this springtime sojourn in a warm climate surrounded by locals living in one-room shacks rather than beachside cabanas. He said they gained an enriched understanding of social justice and learned about the need for compassion in this world. The community truly appreciated that the American students painted their school.  In return, Ray’s group appreciated the insights they gained from this one-of-a-kind journey.

For panelist Sheila Keefe, RN, ’67, volunteering is a way of life.  She launched her extensive volunteer health care provider “career” at the St. Frances Cabrini Clinic of Most Holy Trinity Church in 1968.  She spoke fondly of those years then told the audience of her experiences at the Bon Samaritan mission in Haiti. This fall, she will return to Haiti for the fourth time.  While the mission benefits from Keefe’s 50 years of nursing expertise, she claims her work there has taught her many lessons in hope, gratitude and resourcefulness.

“Volunteers have the opportunity to offer the less fortunate their time, talents and treasures,” says Keefe. “Volunteering isn’t what you do when you get old; it’s what you do to keep you young.”