February 22, 2023

The Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services is a model of trauma-informed care that is nationally recognized as the gold standard because of its strong leadership and connection to the community. Since the first brick was laid, it has evolved to add care and services that is important to the surrounding communities.

Ebony White, PhD, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy, who has served as 11th Street’s interim director since last year, will be stepping down on February 28, 2023. White will be succeeded by Monica Harmon, MSN, MPH, the executive director of CNHP’s Community Wellness HUB.

In her tenure as interim director at 11th Street, White has expanded the center’s programs, interdisciplinary educational opportunities for CNHP students and community events. She was responsible for overseeing and securing external funding, leading and supporting the center’s strategic planning and goal setting and collaborating with Drexel’s colleges and schools. Through White's direction and with support from the Truist Foundation, the center was able to provide seniors in the community with iPads to increase their access to telehealth services. She also secured a $100,000 grant from the Independence Blue Cross Foundation that allowed the center to offer prevention and wellness groups free to the community, including a men’s health and wellness group that has served over 100 Black men and counting.

White helped ensure the center’s realization of its mission and commitment to anti-racist, trauma-informed care and the continuation of bimonthly Undoing Racism groups. She brought the first Anti-Racism Lecture Series to 11th Street with internationally renowned experts who shared education and tools to ensure providers, students and staff had an application-based understanding of implementing anti-racist practice.

Under White’s leadership, 11th Street received re-accreditation as the only Sanctuary-certified health care center in the nation and re-established the relationship with the Center for Care Innovations who seek to use 11th Street as a model for their sites. White co-presented with Kathleen Metzker, MPH, the director of Integrative Health Services at 11th Street, at the Global Health Alliance conference on the integrative model of care at 11th Street. In collaboration with Janielle Bryan, MPH, CHES, the director of Community Wellness, Outreach, and Strategic Partnership at 11th Street, she oversaw the community advisory committee and Community Convening to ensure community members’ voices were heard regarding programming and activities. The center hosted its first Passport to Health event, which was covered by 6ABC. White assisted Sarah Wenger, PT, DPT, clinical professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences and 11th Street’s coordinator of Academic Integration, with the center’s development of the research and onboarding processes to ensure both were community-centered, anti-racist and trauma-informed, and promoted cultural competence and awareness. Under her, there have been more Drexel academic programs integrated at 11th Street than ever in its history, including students from the Physical Therapy, Nursing, Creative Arts Therapy and Nutrition Sciences departments, the College of Medicine, Lebow College of Business, Kline School of Law and Dornsife School of Public Health. Faculty from these departments and the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy have also been involved at 11th Street.

White collaborated with the Family Practice and Counseling Network (FPCN) to ensure the ethical and equitable oversight of care provided at 11th Street to community members. She led community and morale building activities at the center and contributed to the culture of belonging, partnership and fun. “Being able to work closely with community members and community-centered providers in this role has been one of the highlights of my time at Drexel.” We extend our deepest thanks to White for the wonderful job she has done for CNHP and the community as the interim director at 11th Street for the past year.

Monica Harmon, MSN, MPH, RN, assistant clinical professor of nursing, will become the CNHP interim director of the Stephen & Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services on March 1, 2023. She remains the executive director of CNHP’s Community Wellness HUB. Harmon has experience as a nurse, educator and researcher of public health nursing in the community, community engagement and coalition building. She also maintains memberships in professional organizations, community advisory boards, consultancies and trusteeships which are all helping her establish key community partnerships and restructure the HUB to provide interprofessional health services in collaboration with CNHP, the College of Medicine, and Kline School of Law Community Lawyering Clinic.

Harmon will now work with both the Community Wellness HUB and 11th Street to continue to plan and conduct health and wellness education programs and provide care services that address the top health concerns identified by community voices.

Some of Harmon’s key accomplishments over the last year include producing health education workshops like Peripheral Artery Disease, Dirty Water: Philadelphia’s Pollution Problem & How to Fix It and CPR & First Aid Class for Philadelphia Military Academy High School. She assisted in the expansion of Lazarex Cancer Wellness HUB and the development of the Drexel University Medical Assistant Apprenticeship program.

We would like to thank White for the innovation, passion for community engagement, dedication to trauma-informed care and support of the Sanctuary certification she brought to her leadership.

We look forward to what Monica Harmon will bring to 11th Street as she helps move its mission and goals ahead beginning on March 1, 2023.