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SBxCHL Founders

For more information regarding SBxCHL, email us at theleadership.sbxchl@gmail.com.​

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The founding members were a small group with a very large vision.

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Canersheir Walters, Julissa De La Cruz, Hyrjana Dibra, Harly Rodriguez, Alexis Rodriguez, and Erika Gonzalez started as volunteers, helping their mentor, then Family Medicine resident Juan Robles, run his weekly weight loss group for patients at Montefiore Family Health Center in the Fordham area of the Bronx, NY.  During this experience, the volunteers were able to connect with patients and learn directly from them.  They became aware that practicing medicine in an underserved community entails more than writing prescriptions and performing physical exams. It involves tackling the social and economic barriers to health.

Noting how valuable their experiences had quickly become, the founding members, Dr. Juan Robles, and FHC Medical Director Dr. Maria Gbur, decided to open the doors to other future health professionals. They met at a round table and together noted the most important components of what would be their program. These included guidance for pre-health students, exposure to the medical field, and service to patients at FHC and the local Bronx community. The Bronx Community Health Leaders became a volunteer program focused on peer support and community service. The program flourished and grew to about 68 active members that were pursuing careers in healthcare.  

Following a presentation by Dr. Robles about the program, Maria Ruiz, Dr. Barbara Hackley and Dr. Rubayat Qadeer approached him about creating a program like BxCHL in their community (South Bronx).  Dr. Qadeer and Maria started attending the Coordinator-Director meetings and leadership meetings at BxCHL in the Fordham area to learn more about how the program functioned.  After some time, a group of four leaders from BxCHL were chosen to begin a new program under the tutelage of Dr. Qadeer and Maria. In April of 2019, our first coordinator meeting took place in a coffee shop in Harlem. On July 11th, we accepted our very first two volunteers.  

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Rubayat Qadeer, MD
Family Practice Physician, Community Pediatric Programs
Director, SBxCHL

 

Barbara Hackley, CNM, PhD
Director, Resiliency Initiative, Montefiore South Bronx Health Center
Director, Starr Center Community Pediatric Programs

 

Raphael Frias, MD
Family Practice Physician, Community Pediatric Programs
Mentor, SBxCHL

 

Diana Dominguez-Garcia
Janneth Garcia
Eston C Clare

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co-directors
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