Wharton, Penn Medicine collaborate to promote community resources at wellness summit

The Wharton School's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Coalition for Equity and Opportunity, in partnership with the Perelman School of Medicine's Neurology Department, held a summit near Penn's campus to raise awareness about wellness resources available for the local community.

The Wellness Empowerment Project Summit was held on Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Saunders Park at 39th Street and Powelton Avenue. It included approximately 15 organizations with tables providing free services such as fresh produce, baked goods, naloxone, and resources about health screenings to attendees. 

Representatives from Penn Medicine included Penn Memory Center, Penn Neurology, and Wharton Global Youth Program. Additionally, the Netter Center provided resources on financial planning to attendees, and the Addiction Center distributed free naloxone and fentanyl test strips.

Organizations present without Penn affiliations included Welgen One, which provided real-time tests for food sensitivity, environmental allergens, complete blood count, and hemoglobin A1C. Brewerytown Bakery offered free baked goods at a table, and Wurd Radio recorded live footage from the event. Canvassers from the Working Families Party were also in attendance and checked attendees' voter registration statuses. 

Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at the Wharton School Renita Miller said that the tables were selected and assigned based on prevalent areas in the Penn and Philadelphia communities. Miller added that the event stemmed from a desire to promote conversations about financial literacy and wellness.

“It was something we felt really strong about, in terms of being at Penn and in the West Philly community, and wanting to continue to build bridges and build trust with the community and offer what we feel like are the wonderful resources and expertise that we have at Penn,” Miller said.

She added that organizers selected Saunders Park as the location because "it's within the community that we want to serve,” adding that “it’s not in the center of campus."

“We hope to just continue to build these bridges and build opportunities to work with the community and partner with the community on some of the issues that we think are really, really important,” Miller said. 

Wharton sophomore Lauren McDowell, who attended the event to volunteer as a part of The Successful Transition and Empowerment Program's Community Outreach Committee, called the event a good way to connect West Philadelphia with “not only resources that Penn has, but also resources in general that we are able to offer.”