Andrew Griffin is serving his professional practice with Quality Quest for Health of Illinois. He is an outreach coordinator for the Illinois Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (IL-HITREC) in the Peoria satellite office. Griffin works with regional physician practices to determine if they qualify for consulting services. For the practices that sign on for assistance, they receive specialized help with all of the steps necessary to make a switch from paper-based records to electronic (computerized) health records. Griffin reports, Access to the federally funded assistance program made the difference for numerous practices in choosing to adopt a higher standard of care through the use of these electronic records. Ultimately it is the consumer within the community at large, who benefits from access to a more complete, safer record of their health history. Griffin’s experience as a Stevenson Center graduate assistant included working as a grants and government affairs assistant with Easter Seals. There he was responsible for all aspects of grant research and proposal writing for the Bloomington and Peoria Service Centers. Griffin received his B.S. in Anthropology (Minor in Sociology) at Illinois State University.
"; SidebarFinancial[1]="Joanna Bossi is an Applied Community and Economic Development Fellow currently studying Political Science. For her professional practice, Joanna is working with Habitat for Humanity of Indiana, a state support organization serving the sixty-eight local Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Indiana. As the grants administrator for the organization, she assisted in procuring a $700,000 HOME Investment Partnerships Program grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. Joanna aids affiliates involved in the grant, guiding them through the process so they are able to successfully build capacity with the funding they receive. Joanna also helps the organization with advocacy efforts. She assisted in facilitating a state-wide Lobby Day to encourage Indiana legislators to pass a bill exempting Habitat for Humanity affiliates from the SAFE Act. A former AmeriCorps VISTA, Joanna has been involved with Habitat for Humanity since 2008 and hopes to continue with the organization in some capacity following graduation. Joanna received her B.S. in Political Science (Minor course of study in Communication) at California State University – Fresno.
"; SidebarFinancial[2]="Dana Overman is serving her professional practice with the City of Champaign Neighborhood Services Department, where she was given the opportunity to work with the Regional Housing Task Force. Dana was responsible for planning, organizing, and gathering qualitative research through various methods. This research focused on gaining an understanding of the housing issues and gathering perspectives from the residents of Champaign County. Her detailed report outlined the findings and was presented to the community and the City of Champaign Council members. During the second half of her professional practice, Dana researched local economic and workforce development to better understand the existing local workforce development programs, opportunities for increased collaboration, and where workforce and economic development could be developed on a local level. Dana has an A.D.N. from Parkland College, B.A. from Eastern Illinois University, and will soon have a M.S. in Political Science from Illinois State University. She is also a Master’s of Public Health Policy and Administration student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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