Amanda Mack, a health behavior science major, shares health promotion materials during HEALTH for All’s monthly visit to the Laurel Public Library.

Health for All

Article by Tabitha Groh Photos by Evan Krape May 01, 2025

University of Delaware mobile health initiative partners with community organizations to provide care for underserved Delawareans

The HEALTH for All (H4A) program got off to a challenging start: The mobile health initiative launched in 2020 just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic upended day-to-day operations around the world.

But now, five years in, H4A partners with more than 20 community organizations across Delaware — including new partners outside of New Castle County — to bring tailored care to underserved communities while providing workforce development opportunities for students from throughout the University of Delaware.

Twice a week, the H4A team — anchored by Program Manager Christine Sowinski and Family Nurse Practitioner Heather Milea — travels the state in a mobile health van to visit community sites, offering physical and mental health screenings, consultations and health promoting materials.

“H4A is in the unique position to hear about community needs directly from partners with whom they have built a trusted relationship and to seek expertise from across the College of Health Sciences and the entire University to meet those needs,” said UD College of Health Sciences Dean Bill Farquhar, who has joined the team in the field. “This program also gives students opportunities to see community health in action through service learning.”

Supported over the last five years by the College of Health Sciences, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Laffey McHugh Foundation and private donors, H4A works to build sustained relationships with partners at community sites like senior centers, barber shops, libraries and churches — spaces where community members feel comfortable.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the community and University colleagues to deliver meaningful initiatives and to work alongside students to mentor, support their growth, and empower them to make a lasting impact in public health,” Sowinski said.

Family Nurse Practitioner Heather Milea oversees nursing student Makenna Haas as she administers a health screening to a community member.

Amanda Mack, a senior studying health behavior science and medical social services from Nantucket, Massachusetts, has interned with H4A this semester.

Mack, who will begin an accelerated nursing program in 2026 with hopes of becoming a geriatric nurse, said the experience has helped her understand the needs of underserved communities.

“Until you see people do not have access to the resources that they need firsthand, you don't fully grasp how difficult it is for them to survive, let alone receive the help and treatment that they need,” Mack said. “Most people are so worried about paying their rent or finding food to feed their children that things like going to the doctor are low on their priority list.”

One of H4A’s partners is Friendship House, a nonprofit organization that annually serves about 17,000 people experiencing loss of community, loss of housing or both.

Processing about 250,000 pounds of clothing each year, the organization’s clothing bank employs warehouse associates, largely through a work-release program. The program assists women with re-entry into the community by helping them develop work and life skills.

The H4A model fits seamlessly with the Friendship House program, which was developed to address issues specific to women, including women’s health.

Development Director Cheryl Bryant said that many of the program participants have been incarcerated, and their physical and mental health have been greatly affected.

“Many of the women have not seen a medical professional regularly, and may have health concerns that are not managed,” Bryant said. “Consistent access to healthcare as they transition out of incarceration is critical for supporting their stability and helps build the best opportunity for them to thrive and move forward.”

Milea, who also serves as a family nurse practitioner at the University of Delaware Nurse Managed Primary Care Center located at the UD STAR Campus, consults with the six program participants monthly, establishing consistency and trust. In addition to providing primary care visits, she helps participants navigate challenges such as finding health practitioners and getting prescriptions filled.

Recently, H4A has expanded its mobile services into Kent and Sussex counties, visiting locations like the Food Bank of Delaware in Milford and the YMCA in Dover, thanks to new relationships.

Laurel Public Library, one of H4A’s new monthly sites outside of New Castle County, serves one of the poorest communities in Delaware.

“Our library is far from being traditional,” said Wenona Phillips, assistant director. “Libraries are known as the trusted entities, and so everyone comes or calls us for everything possible.”

Among her other duties, Phillips works with partner organizations — primarily nonprofit organizations — to highlight services through information tables or programs held at the library.

Consistency is key, Phillips said, in building trust with the community.

“[The Laurel community] already feels unloved, unappreciated and not seen, and when we get the least amount of resources that just adds to that feeling. That's why it's so important to make these connections with partners like H4A,” Phillips said.

Workforce development

Since 2020, more than 1,000 graduate and undergraduate UD students have participated in real-world activities through H4A, connecting students to populations with the greatest health disparities.

Students from 11 programs across three colleges have participated in health fairs and produced student-led programming.

State Rep. Cyndie Romer, who recently joined H4A for a mobile health visit, said that the program’s workforce development efforts are “a smart, creative way to engage graduate and undergraduate students from across disciplines.”

State Rep. Cyndie Romer (center) recently joined Heather Milea (left) and Christine Sowinski (right) in the field after meeting the H4A team at a Partnership for Healthy Communities event.

Cathryn Molloy, professor of Writing Studies in the Department of English, has incorporated H4A-facilitated exercises into several of her courses.

Last spring, Molloy’s students worked on patient education materials about screenings for atherosclorotic heart disease and provided workshops on writing as a way of healing at select community sites.

“[The students] learned to apply the theoretical knowledge they had obtained on approaches to therapeutic expressive writing with real clients in the community,” Molloy said.

Sowinski has facilitated additional partnerships between UD and community partners, like the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center, including with Jessica Edwards, associate professor in the Department of English.

In 2022, Edwards’ professional writing students produced health literacy brochures and infographics in support of the library’s many community health and wellness efforts.

H4A’s collaboration with the Route 9 Library was recognized with a national library partnership award in 2024.

About HEALTH for All

HEALTH (Health Engagement Access Learning Teaching Humanity) for All is an initiative of the Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC), which serves as a bridge between UD’s public health research and education efforts and the communities those efforts are meant to benefit. PHC was established in 2017 through the Community Engagement Initiative, which works to facilitate and strengthen UD’s identity and impact as an engaged research university and community partner throughout the state of Delaware and beyond.