Condensing a Sea of Speech Bubbles into a Report on Energy Efficiency in CT

I can hardly believe that December is only a few days away! I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my work here at the Housing Development Fund. Half of the reason is because I get to speak with and engage with a variety of stakeholders on a daily basis and the other half is because my work is inherently meaningful to me. My focus is on energy efficiency in the residential sector in Connecticut. Through the months of August and October, I engaged with a community of over sixty stakeholders together with a small group of committee chairpersons from other organizations to produce a set of recommendations on residential energy efficiency. We then submitted these recommendations in the form of report to the state’s Energy Efficiency Board and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) as part of public comments for policy planning.

Ethnographic training from anthropology certainly came in handy during the first two months on the job, as I learned about the different stakeholders and organizations in the energy efficiency field. In some ways, I was also learning and adapting to working with others in a more general sense - being cognizant of their roles, interests and the multiple hats people have to wear. I am ever grateful for the examples of others including my organization's CEO Joan Carty for demonstrating sensitivity and tact in this respect. 

While the months leading up to the report involved a fair amount of administrative and detailed work (conference calls, transcriptions, summaries, reminder e-mails etc.), this foundational work provided a corpus of data from which the other chairs  and I could cull recurring stakeholder concerns and ideas for action. Ensuring that the minutes were clearly written, correctly labeled and accessible via the cloud helped make the report writing process much easier and more reflective of stakeholders’ views overall. What did I learn from this? Never look down on the small tasks that make the big tasks better.

In the Finance committee, we heard presentations from energy efficiency programs from seven other states on their financing programs. From this series of webinars, we collected a set of data about their program processes, loan terms and performance in terms of number of loans and delinquency rates. From this information, we did a comparative analyses of programs and uncovered some best practices that we could implement in Connecticut. One of these recommendations was to launch a pilot loan program with credit unions and community development financial institutions, I am excited to say that this is in the works! My organization, HDF, is currently in the midst of launching a loan program for low-income households in small multifamily units while the Clean Energy and Finance Investment Authority (CEFIA) is planning on launching another pilot with credit unions in January 2013. 

Since the publication of the Megacommunities Stakeholder Report, I’ve gotten the chance to represent this group of stakeholders at several meetings. On November 16, I presented the recommendations on a panel at Connecticut’s Green Economy Summit, an event organized by the Connecticut Working Families Party. Other members of the panel were representatives from the Governor’s Office and DEEP, who spoke about the state’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES). More recently, I provided a brief summary of the recommendations at the Building Efficiency Technical Meeting to DEEP staff members as part of public comments for the CES and presented several questions together with Kerry, one of our Megacommunities chairpersons. I am grateful for these opportunities to represent my organization, as well as the stakeholders who participated in these discussions. 

Attending these events, as well as the monthly meetings of the Energy Efficiency Board, has enabled me to interact in person with many of the stakeholders who I had spoken with during the conference calls and webinars in the previous months. It was enjoyable to finally be able to put a face to the names and voices I had gotten to know. We’re in the process of launching two more committees (or working groups, as we call them) in the next few months. I’m looking forward to fostering more conversations!

Maximizing downtime

Today, the folks at my office experienced a morning and afternoon of technological limbo. We have been in the midst of a server upgrade since last week and the people from our Internet Service Provider (who will not be named) were in the office doing some work today. As a result, we were offline for most of the day and not just that – we had to log out of our computers.

Since we could not use our desktops, I was unable to do my normal tasks such as replying to e-mails and compiling documents. Instead, I wandered over to where Mary, my fellow PP55 fellow, sits and we had a conversation. What happened was that we saw people we don’t normally see creep out of their offices and talk to each other. (I’m guilty of the same thing – sitting with my headphones on and my door closed when I’m taking minutes from conference calls.)

Mary and I were discussing our social media efforts when a brainwave hit – why don’t we grab some photos of the staff at the Housing Development Fund and post a sound-bite from each of them on our Facebook page? This could give prospective clients a better idea of who the people “behind-the-scenes” are and what they actually do.

This led to a conversation about photographers and events with our Director of Operations, Joanne, who sits in an office near Mary. This was when we realized that we really should make sure we have the personal contact information of the event photographer we really like, so that we keep in touch even if she were to leave the company she is working for right now.

Later on, our colleague Debbie, the Director of Counseling, came over and told us about a credit workshop she was going to run in the afternoon. I asked her if we could take a look at her slides since Mary and I were just starting out in terms of building our credit history. Not only did we get to read the slides, but Debbie also gave us a nutshell version of her workshop which was really useful.

And then, since the computers were still not online, Mary and I joined in a massive collective effort led by Valerie, our Director of Lending, to organize our filing system – checking and ordering the client files alphabetically from left-to-right, and removing damaged dividers in the drawers. Since we had five people sorting through the drawers, we got that done within an hour.

Takeaways? Downtime doesn’t need to be wasted time. It can be the time to do important things (like doing "maintenance" for the filing system) that usually take a backseat when we are constantly barraged by e-mails and other tasks. Downtime is a great time to connect with colleagues face-to-face. This might be that opportunity to walk over and learn from the expertise of someone else in your organization. In the midst of your conversations, you might even come up with some innovative ideas. Come to think about it, downtime can be pretty productive too.  

September at HDF

It’s been just month since I started my fellowship at the Housing Development Fund in Stamford, Connecticut (allow with my fellow Fellow, Sabrina.) My title is “Development Assistant,” which I have learned encompasses a wide variety of roles!

After just two days on the job, I found myself in Cincinnati at the 2012 NeighborWorks Training Institute. I took classes about company branding and grant-writing, and participated in the 2012 Young Professionals Symposium. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of my co-workers,  meet other professionals from all over the country, and generally to get a crash course in the field of community development and housing!

Recently, I’ve been involved in the “Communications” part of Development and Communications. My first big project was putting together and sending out our summer newsletter, which was a great way to get informed about HDF’s initiatives and achievements. Hitting ‘send’ on a message to over 4,000 people was an interesting experience!

I’ve also been organizing several events coming up in the next few months, from a ribbon-cutting on a new property whose construction HDF financed, to a Post-Purchase meeting following up with clients who have purchased their first home through our First Time Homebuyer Program, to an event celebrating HDF’s charter with NeighborWorks America at the State Capitol.

When I’m not working on event planning things, I’m updating our website, helping to design invitations and promotional materials, scheduling clients for our First-Time Homebuyer Program, and planning for a database architecture project meeting next week – a good mix of planning procedures, coming up with abstract and creative solutions, and working directly with the people we serve.

Championing affordable housing in CT: Housing Development Fund, Inc.

It has been nearly a month since I started work at the Housing Development Fund (HDF) in Stamford, CT. So far, I've really enjoyed the process of learning and getting involved at work. HDF is a community development financial institution serving three counties in the state of Connecticut. The mission of HDF is to facilitate the development of affordable housing, both rental and homeownership, and to assist individuals and households to enter into responsible homeownership. Thus, HDF provides services such as counseling, lending and homeowner education, supporting a range of clients from those who aspire to become first-time homeowners to people seeking to avoid foreclosure on their properties. At the moment, HDF is working towards incorporating energy efficiency financing into its portfolio. That's where my fellowship comes in!

My focus area at the moment is supporting program innovation in residential energy efficiency for the state of Connecticut.  This involves co-ordinating a series of stakeholder discussions that will feed into the planning process of the state's Energy Efficiency Board. To say that I jumped into the deep end right at the start would not be an exaggeration. On my second day at work, I attended a energy efficiency workshop in New Britain, CT where representatives from the state government, utility companies, nonprofits and home energy contractors engaged in a day of presentations and best practice sharing. I was tasked with taking notes and following up with the event via a survey and the launch of working groups that would craft recommendations for the Energy Efficiency Board.

Last week, my organization sent several staff members including the two PP55 fellows to a training conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. We were there for almost the entire working week.  I attended a course entitled "Green Building Fundamentals for Affordable Housing" where I learned about building science principles and how they could be applied to green building projects. The course provided great basic knowledge about the importance of good insulation, ventilation, air sealing and energy efficiency. Beyond that, I got to visit several nonprofit organizations who were engaged in neighborhood revitalization in their areas. It was inspiring to see how groups such as Gabriel's Place and the Northside Business Association and Community Council were bringing about real change in the community through their work. Gabriel's Place hosts a community garden which brings fresh food to a food desert community where the last supermarket closed down in 2009. Their youth employment program hires local youth to work on the gardens (two paid hours every three hours of work) which encourages young people to adopt healthier eating styles while providing a source of part-time income for them. Northside Business Association has been buying and redeveloping abandoned buildings to attract new homeowners and businesses to the neighborhood - literally taking over streets controlled by druglords and gangs. In addition to learning about these "green" community transformations, I also got to watch a Reds game at the stadium and taste Cincinnati chili! It's been a really fun first month on the job and I look forward to sharing more soon.

"Won't Back Down"

(This post sort of straddles two locations since I'm a current fellow in Connecticut, but I will be a fellow next year in the Bay Area!)

As the next fellow for NewSchools Venture Fund for the upcoming year, I was lucky enough to fly to San Francisco to attend their annual Summit, attended by almost 1000 of the nation's top education reformers. To listen to and be among (and even having a chance to interview) the most innovative and rebellious thinkers and change agents in education reform today - it was truly the two most inspiring days of my life.

At the conference, I was able to attend an early screening of a movie called "Won't Back Down", which stars Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal (who are both absolutely brilliant in this film), as well as listen to a panel with the director. I cannot recommend this movie more, it is not only extremely powerful, it is also much too important not to see. While the film is centered around the controversies of the parent trigger laws of certain states (that allow parents to overrule administrators and bad teachers at failing schools), it touches on so many of the key issues with our school systems and so many of the reasons why education reform is critical.

"Won't Back Down" will be in theaters this September. Whether you watch it for the issues, the controversy, the touching storyline, or the incredible acting by Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and others - it doesn't matter, just watch it. And tell your friends and family! I promise that you and they will not only enjoy this movie, but will want to pass on the message.

Here is a New York Times article on "Won't Back Down": http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/movies/viola-davis-and-maggie-gyllenhaal-in-parent-trigger-film.html?_r=1

It Takes a Megacommunity

Energy Smart Solutions: A Megacommunity Simulation

See the photos from the Housing Development Fund and Booz Allen Hamilton's groundbreaking Simulation that brought together 80 leaders from government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits to tackle residential energy efficiency in Connecticut:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.349739965069230.80688.134830096560219&type=3

Here's the update!

I had the amazing opportunity of planning this really unique event (March 6-7 in Hartford), which was designed to discover new ways to radically increase the adoption of energy efficiency measures in homes. Simulation participants included Benjamin Barnes (Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for the State of CT), Daniel Esty (Commissioner of CT's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection), Rod Powell (president of Yankee Gas), and many others.

In this wargame, all these "big shots" in the energy world were put on teams like "State Government", "Energy Suppliers", "Financial Institutions", etc. to design programs with the interest of their team roles in mind and negotiate commitments with other teams. Every team tested their ideas by pitching their plans to the "Residents" team, which played the role of homeowners (the public) and gave feedback on each plan. I was able to sit in on meetings and negotiations (so so fun), and I can say that everyone got really into playing their roles and it definitely got heated at times! (And a little wacky, see the "I CONSERVA" signs above.) Our photographer even said she felt like she was going to get eaten in some of the rooms. :P

The event was a huge success - not only did the participants really immerse themselves in the Simulation, they were actually excited and motivated to take the insights they learned from the two-day event and do something about it in the months to come. A lot of participants said that they had never seen such a broad cross-section of stakeholders come together, and my co-worker John and I (the event planners) kept getting compliments on how smoothly the whole event was run (which I thought was a weird thing for them to say, but I'm thankful!).

So now that the Simulation is finally over, John and I are open for business as event-planners. We'll do weddings........and wargame simulations?

-----

P.S. This is more than a little embarrassing, but if you're friends with me on Facebook, you can have the privilege of seeing me freestyle rap about the conference during one of our breaks... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150725253749744

Happy Leap Day!

First things first, for the 30 Rock fans, remember: "It's Leap Day. Real life is for March!" (Which is fast approaching, but you still have time!)

Now an update about me and the Housing Development Fund:

Things have been busier than ever. Right now is the busiest I've been since I started working here. And it's awesome. I and a couple colleagues including our CEO are full-on immersed in the huge conference/summit on residential energy efficiency that we're running early next week, and we're also in full-on planning mode for our annual benefit in April. Being that we have very few staff members working on either or both of these events, there's a lot to do - from communicating with guests, to creating briefing books and programs, to handling issues with the caterer and venue, to meeting with our consultants from Booz Allen in NYC, etc etc. It's very exciting, and at this point, it's getting stressful (though it doesn't compare to being a Princeton student of course...).

About the conference/summit we're hosting next week: If you've ever participated in Model UN or Model Congress, it's actually going to be kind of like that - but for some really important people in government, in the civic sector, and in businesses that have to do with residential energy in Connecticut. The summit is a two-day simulation, where stakeholders from all 3 sectors play a type of wargame - assigned to teams, they have to negotiate with each other and develop strategies to solve energy issues/electric rates in Connecticut based on the goals of the roles they're playing. It's really exciting because it's so new (a simulation hasn't been done for this kind of issue before), and we've also got some big players that all have the real potential to move the needle on this issue even after the simulation is over.

Mostly, it'll be fun to see how they play the game. :)

Random: At the aquarium in Norwalk - so fun!!

From Norwalk

From Norwalk, CT

On Saturday, I finally took the MCAT, and after months of preparing I have at least a few weeks of peace before I find out my score. After all that time studying during the evenings and weekends, now that I finally have that time free I almost feel at a loss as to what to do with it! It’ll be nice to finally be able to participate in all those things I’ve been missing out on for a while.

Work has been going well. As always, the workload has been cyclical, with periods of relative calm mixed with periods of greater urgency. Right now the tide is coming in as we work to submit a couple of data-intensive funding applications, initiate a couple of quality improvement projects, and continue to see to the desultory series of minor issues that come our way. A couple of the major projects include the implementation of a new online module that will allow us to generate, send, and capture referrals to outside specialists electronically, and the commitment to a more sophisticated and rigorous process of tracking key data on performance and quality. It is an exciting time because our efforts now will pave the way for a significant increase in the capability of the health center to provide high-quality care to its patients, and the continued expansion of the health center.

Meanwhile, we have settled into Norwalk. It’s by no means the most exciting town in the world, but it’s a nice little place. Its main avenue is like Nassau Street on the water, hosting a fine array of bars, restaurants and stores. I have my set of favorite places to eat, I know the owners, and I know where to go to exercise and find a decent pickup game of soccer. On the weekend, the city still beckons.

Resolutions

Courtesy of http://moninavelarde.com/newyears/.

Have fun generating your own resolutions - and happy new year! :)

November

It may be cheesy, but I decided to stick "I'm Thankful For ______" slips of paper on the office fridge so coworkers could fill in the blanks. When I came back, the slips had multiplied! So in honor of my coworkers and their willingness to participate in a cheesy tradition, I'll reveal a few of my own answers. :)

I'm thankful for... the moments when hard work pays off.

We finally launched the completely NEW HDF website redesign I've been working so hard on! It's such a relief not because it's done, but because we really believe the new site is much more clear and that potential clients will be able to access the information they need far more easily. (And it got rave reviews! Check it out here: hdf-ct.org)

I'm thankful for... work/life balance.

Working at a nonprofit (and/or doing a fellowship) may not rake in big bucks, but there are other benefits you can't take for granted. Consistently working 9 to 5 leaves me time to take a painting class and make art, join a local dance studio and even perform in a show, as well as read, cook, and so much more. Not ever working weekends also lets me take trips (like to Princeton for homecoming weekend!) and generous vacation time allowed me to visit my brother in San Francisco this month - a city I fell in love with.

I'm thankful for... new, unexpected experiences.

- At the NYC PP55 seminar on the economy, I had the opportunity of talking with (the Emmy-winning) CBS News Business Correspondent Anthony Mason one-on-one and getting his insight on the housing crisis - and what he believes was the cause of the 2008 Recession (securitization). Unexpected and enlightening!

- I've never been to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade but I watch it on tv without fail. Every. Year. Decided on a whim to check out the big parade in Stamford this past Sunday, and to my surprise and excitement, it was just like a local version of the Macy's Parade with HUGE balloons (see below), floats, and bands.

How can I not count my blessings? :)

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

- Meister Eckhart

Hmm...

...You know something's wrong when someone confuses your nonprofit work for being in the financial industry!

I guess not all nonprofits are easy to explain. The one I work at (Housing Development Fund) provides counseling and classes to lesser-privileged families who want to buy their very first home, but need to work on their credit score or their paperwork, etc. before they can be approved for a mortgage. (Oftentimes, these families live in public housing or subsidized housing and never thought they could afford their own home. And some of their rents are still sky-high!) We also have classes and counseling for those who are about to lose their homes to foreclosure.

Both are under the category of financial counseling...but we're not working on these families' stock portfolios! We're helping them with budgeting, making sure they can be financially stable after buying their first home, and making sure they can continue to keep their home.

The other side of HDF is giving loans (downpayment assistance) to families who still need additional help to buy a home in Connecticut's very very pricey housing market. And we also invest in affordable housing in the area, investing in developers who build affordable rental apartments - which is so important and necessary in this area.

Recently, we helped create 60 affordable apartments in some of the lowest income neighborhoods in the county! Bridgeport, CT was hit extremely hard by the foreclosure crisis, and HDF's financing was able to revitalize some foreclosed and abandoned buildings, converting them to affordable housing. And even better news: the amount of affordable apartments created will be able to empty the homeless family shelters in Bridgeport and Fairfield for at least one day.

So this side of HDF makes it seem like a "nonprofit bank", which is a good way to describe the nonprofit, but I guess can also lead to confusion...

I must say, working at a nonprofit is quite the opposite of working in finance. And well, I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Hello from Norwalk, CT

It's a quiet late Friday afternoon at the Norwalk Community Health Center and finally I am contributing to the fellow's blog. Apologies for my absence so far, it's been a busy summer and early autumn.

In about an hour and a half my 15th week at the health center will be coming to an end. In that time I have become fairly comfortable in my role here, along with the other P55 fellow, Julia. So far our work has been mostly administrative: We have worked on various quality improvement projects and have chipped in to help compile data for various government public health departments on the health center's clinical performance in a number of areas. We have also worked to contact and communicate with patients about their ongoing healthcare needs, helping them to schedule appointments with specialists and find their way through the complex, disorganized, and often frustrating healthcare landscape they face. At the end of the month, we will play a small clinical role for the first time by acting as quasi-medical assistants in a pilot of the use of knowledge supplementing software for managing diabetic patients.

What patient contact I have had so far has been fairly astonishing. Many of the health center's patients are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and I've found that while some of these patients are quite knowledgeable of their conditions and involved in their own care, others are sometimes almost entirely ignorant of the diseases that afflict them and their implications. This is not to say that these patients are always irresponsible. Some of them are very tenacious in finding out where it is the doctors want them to go and what it is they want them to do without really conceptually understanding why they are doing all these things. Nevertheless, the lack of basic medical knowledge that I have seen has in some cases rivaled or even surpassed that which I saw in rural West Africa, which I never would have imagined before.

The other notable aspect of my interaction with patients so far has been the prodigious difficulty I have seen some of them face in simply accessing any kind of specialty care. Patients with Medicaid or no insurance are able to access high-quality primary care at the health center because the health center qualifies for adequate compensation from Medicaid (somewhere around 120 dollars per visit), and because the health center offers a sliding fee scale for the uninsured such that they pay out of pocket for care only as much as they are able to according to some financial formula. However, virtually no independent specialists are compensated reasonably by Medicaid (their compensation per visit can be as low as 15 dollars, which simply doesn't begin to cover all the costs of a visit), and thus almost all do not accept Medicaid patients. Meanwhile, sliding fee scale patients are left to face high specialist visit costs by themselves, and are almost always unable to afford these visits to private providers.

The only option for Medicaid and uninsured patients is then to go to "specialty clinics" run by area hospitals where specialists donate their time and skills for little or no compensation. However, demand for these appointments is far greater than capacity, and the waiting list for an appointment can range from 3 months to more than half a year, depending on the specialty. Some effort is made to accommodate patients with emergency referrals first, but most of these patients must suffer long waits to be seen, and even then it is uncertain they will be able to afford the remedies they may need to solve their problems.

This is not the time or place to discuss healthcare reform, and, to be fair, the health center's Medicare patients (for people over 65) are able to receive very generous care from any specialist, but the inequality in access and care for those who do not qualify for Medicare is nothing short of a national disgrace. This fellowship has put us in the middle of issues that I had previously only read about distantly, and it has certainly been a more worldly sort of education that we have been receiving here so far than most of what we've had in the past.

Personally, I have spent a lot of time travelling on the weekends this summer and early autumn, and am now beginning to settle down for the next few months to study for the MCAT. Norwalk is a lovely town, almost like Princeton on the beach in some parts, but it can't compete with the magnificence of nearby New York City as a weekend hangout. I have been able to find a group to play pickup soccer with in Stamford, a few miles down the road, but other than these weekly excursions and my MCAT studying I have no scheduled extra-office activities for now. Once that MCAT is done that will certainly change.

Anyway, hope to be able to contribute more regularly to this blog from here on out.

Who Knew?

Who knew nonprofits could have corporate-style perks?

HDF (Housing Development Fund) has a partnership with CitiBank/Citi Foundation and we were invited to watch the Mets game last night against the Nationals - in an Empire Suite private box at Citifield! Even though the Mets lost, it was a really fun night (with great seats!) and the stadium is awesome.

I promised to talk about my organization so here's a bit of background info:

HDF may be small, but it's the nonprofit with the largest funding for affordable housing in Connecticut - one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S. The income (and education) gap is huge here, which means too many families can't live in the towns that they work in. HDF acts kind of like a nonprofit bank - we finance developers of affordable housing, but we also have special programs to provide mortgage loans for low/moderate-income individuals and counsel first-time homebuyers to help them understand the complicated homebuying process and work towards achieving their goals. The people we help work hard and earn steady incomes, like police offers and teachers, but in this area, it's not enough to afford a house! All of our one-on-one counseling, classes, and clinics are free, and we even help people at risk of foreclosure (and victims of mortgage fraud) so that they can keep their homes - which is especially critical in the current economy. I really admire everyone at HDF for the work they've done assisting thousands of families, and it's so rewarding to see clients close on new homes every week because of our help, especially those that have worked with us for a long time to finally achieve their American Dream. :)

Reading these blogs, it's so cool to see all of the fellows opening doors at their organizations!

Connecticut!

hello! :)

I've been working at the Housing Development Fund here in Stamford, CT for exactly a month now and, though I have to say I never imagined myself living in CT, it has been really awesome so far! Here are just a few of the things that I love:

- The offices of the Housing Development Fund's Stamford branch are located on the ground floor of a luxury apartment complex. The wonderful people at HDF set me up in a beautiful one-bedroom apartment that's in the same building that I work in - which means my commute is just one elevator ride! (Plus, being that HDF champions affordable housing, my rent is less than half of what it should be!) And you should see the rooftop gym and resident lounge...

- Speaking of HDF, my coworkers are all friendly, down-to-earth, admirable people who do such good work, helping low- and moderate- income families work towards purchasing their first homes (or avoid foreclosure) in one of the most expensive housing markets in the U.S. Not only do we provide free one-on-one counseling to these families, we also provide them with loan products and invest in developers who build affordable housing units. So, in a way, HDF is like a nonprofit bank, which is so unique (and makes it a sustainable nonprofit).

As part of the Development and Communications department, I (so far) write press releases, do research for grants and grant reports, design any promotional material, write/design newsletters, help plan events, and my current big project - redesign our website! Compared to being an architecture major at Princeton, my job is definitely low on stress and also 9 to 5 which is just what I need!

- Downtown Stamford is a great place to live - it's a lot livelier than I ever expected, with a ton of people at night populating Restaurant Row (which is just a block from my apartment). I'm also at a walkable distance from a grocery store (on my street), a really fabulous mall, the library, a Target, and even the train station (though I often take a bus there). The Stamford train station can lead you anywhere, but most notably, it is just a 45-50 min train ride to New York City - and I go almost every weekend! Living the relatively quiet suburban life during the weekdays and the busy city life (and nightlife) on the weekends is the perfect balance for me. :)

^There are quirky artist sculptures everywhere in Stamford. This dog lives in front of the town library.

I hope everyone's having a fantastic summer! More details about my organization to come...

Unexpected Mini-Break

For the first time in a long while, Idil and I realized this morning that we have nothing to do, no ongoing projects to tackle! For the past couple of months, we had been busy doing time studies, phone reports, running a- mini-farmer’s market, helping patients get insurance, shepherding the Ob/Gyn department in the switch from paper charts to electronic medical record keeping, the list goes on. As we finished the tail end on our mini-projects list (preparing documents for the Residents that list their patients), we realized that for this day at least, we have nothing to do.

Our next project coming up promises to be exciting. From the move to a bigger building to the expansion of the patient population, the health center is constantly expanding. We have been hiring new doctors to help accommodate the rising demand for appointments. The trickle down effect is that staffing also needs to increase to keep up with the patients coming to see the new providers. One solution to the staffing demand would be to shuffle current staff around. On Monday Idil and I will be receiving schedules for training to become medical assistants. After the training, part of our duties would be to spend about a day each week helping process patients in one of the three departments (adult medicine, peds, ob/gyn). I am especially looking forward to this experience because not only will we be directly helping out the departments, we finally get to interact face-to-face with patients.

We are savoring this day of mini-rest by posting to the blog, bugging our office mate to help her with some of her workload, and taking a deep breath before diving into the next new thing.

Weekend Fun in CT

A few Fridays ago, we got to know our P55 mentor as we had a barbeque under the stars at his home. While enjoying a delicious meal of steak, corn, and tomatoes, we took a trip back to Princeton in the 50s, as our mentor gave us a view of his days in the orange bubble. We also discussed the many ways Princeton has changed, in particular under the leadership of President Tilghman. Our conversation also took us from the time when every man at Princeton had to be a member of an eating club to how monumental it is to have a female president. Before we knew it, it was 10:30pm and time for us to head home.

Being in the middle of fruit harvest season, we decided to take a drive up to a small farm in Easton, CT that Saturday and pick some fresh fruit. Aboard a tractor with numerous families, we drove through the groves of Silverman’s Farm. Stopping at the apple, peach, and plum groves, we filled our two bags to the rim. That night, we turned into homemakers and baked apple and peach pies. It was nice coming home to the sweet aroma of these pies for the next two days.

One of the best features that downtown Norwalk offers is the assortment of restaurants. You will find a Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Spanish and Chinese restaurant all in the same block. Saturday night, we discovered a great Peruvian place that had delicious goat, chicken, and shrimp. Walking around the area later, we stumbled upon a poster advertising a performance by the famous Colombian salsa group, Grupo Niche, that very night. Luckily, we were able to get last minute tickets from the venue owner and were able to enjoy a night of salsa dancing.

A strong thunderstorm that Sunday night took out the power of the clinic and led to a day-off on Monday. Because NYC is only an hour train from Norwalk, we searched for interesting events happening in the city and found an awesome free concert in Brooklyn featuring Sean Paul. This access to the city’s art, culture, and entertainment, without its high living costs, is one of the best things about living in Connecticut.

Home Visits

On August Thursday 19th, we all pile into two cars to visit the different facilities that elderly people in the Norwalk area frequent. "We" consist of one attending, three first-year residents, one medical student, and two Princeton Fellows who work at the Norwalk Community Health Center. The attending had spent the previous half hour describing the different places our patients may be receiving care depending on their age and insurance. She mentioned that the elderly patients that pass through the clinic actually fit a very small segment of the elderly population. We discussed senior centers, rehabilitation centers, adult daycare, and nursing homes and the types of patients that might be found at each location.

Our first stop is at an adult daycare. The grassy area right outside the building is filled with slides, swings and other outdoor play equipment that one might find in a preschool yard. I comment, "Aren't those a bit too small for the adults?" Of course those play-sets are not for the adults, but rather for the preschool kids who come to visit the seniors once a week. The adult daycare center serve as a place were live-at-home adults who need constant care (many, with Alzheimer's) could go to during the day, while their relatives/primary caretakers could go to work. Apart from providing food, entertainment, and a social atmosphere, the staff at the daycare also monitor the state of the seniors. They provide showers, helping the seniors once a week to wash themselves. The caretakers at the daycare also alert health-care providers to deterioration of the senior's health or mental state.

As we enter the main common room, we see a lot of seniors sitting around, many with walkers. The senior population is severely skewed to the female gender. The attending turns to one of the male residents and asks, "you are still single, right?" Over to one wall, we see one of the seniors reclining on one of the couches. The attending comments this particular senior spends most of her time there and probably suffers from paranoia. We leave the common room and tour the rest of the facility. After meeting some of the daycare's staff, we head out to the next location.

We drive to a senior center which is based in a former school. We arrive as a bus pulls away. The seniors usually end their day at the center around 3:30. The center, similar to a YMCA, serves as a place where able seniors can find activities to occupy their time. There is a large room for group exercises. The many volunteer opportunities include meals-on-wheels, mentoring, etc. There are also message boards with postings for field trips (to casino, shopping centers to name a few). A couple of filled bookcases out in the hallway make up a free-for-all library: one can take any book and add any book at will. We step into a room to speak with four women who are playing a game of Mahjong before heading out. The attending mentions that the seniors that use the center often are able to afford to go to their own private doctors.

The last facility we visit for the day is a nursing home. A former patient, “Edward,” greets the attending doctor by calling her my lady and kissing her hand. We spend over an hour talking with Edward, learning about how he got to his present circumstances. Edward has a severe form of sickle-cell anemia. His college years were interrupted by bouts of illness. He went back home to California and lived by himself for a while. However, a sickle-cell crisis brought him back to the East Coast, where a majority of his family had moved. When his family could no longer take care of him, Edward spent some time living in a home for psychiatric patients, a place he did not like. Luckily, he was moved to the nursing home a year or so ago. Although, at 35, he is one of the youngest people at this facility, he seems to have embraced it as a sort of home for himself. He goes out of his way to help the other patients and eagerly befriends everyone. At the same time, he does not sugarcoat his situation. According to Edward, he is constantly in pain enough to know that there are different flavors of pain. Despite his difficult situation, Edward projects an open, and even happy, outlook on life.

Too often, the profile of the typical geriatric hospital patient or the nursing home patient paints our view of elderly people. Our visit to these different facilities opened us to the wide spectrum of elderly people in our communities, and their varying levels of health and independence.