Community Table Event Celebrates New Partnerships

By Dirk Hoffman

The Jan. 31 event in the atrium of the medical school’s building featured the symbolic “breaking of the bread” as students, faculty members and representatives of community organizations shared a meal.

Dedicating thousands of hours of service through the new CommunityConnect program, UB medical students are gaining crucial experiences by partnering with community organizations.

“We are honored to gather this evening to recognize the invaluable contributions of those who, like the Jacobs School, share a mission to serve all stages of life within our region,” said Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School.

“By directly engaging with the diverse needs of our community, our students not only contribute to advancing important causes, but also develop crucial skills that will make them better, more compassionate physicians in the future,” she added.

Brashear said that students are learning in a supportive environment where they can grow and thrive, both personally and professionally, through the learning community neighborhoods, which are integrated into the medical school’s new Well Beyond curriculum.

Those neighborhoods are named after advocates for change in Western New York, including Arthur O. Eve, the former deputy speaker of the New York State Assembly, and the late George Heron, past president of the Seneca Nation, according to Sourav Sengupta, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Learning Communities program.

“What is a community? It is homes and roads and buildings and services. It is stores and schools, and all the activity needed for those to thrive,” Sengupta said. “But at its core, a community is people, coming together, making a better place to live, to work, to love.”

“We’ve been fortunate to have some wonderful people lead our communities through challenging times. Today, we want to honor two amazing leaders who have helped their Western New York communities immeasurably,” he added.

Jacobs School learning communities are comprised of five “neighborhoods” — each containing three dozen medical students who learn and work together with their faculty coaches and each named for an amazing Western New York changemaker.

Malcolm Eve and Tyler Heron and their families were on hand to share a few words about their fathers’ legacies.

Sengupta also offered a few brief “thank yous” to Michael Lamb, PhD, research assistant professor of surgery and the director of CommunityConnect, the service-learning program; Fatima Nor, the program coordinator; and to Julie Szrama, director of student and academic affairs.

He then invited all gathered to break bread, “a form of fellowship that has been bringing humans together ever since we cultivated wheat more than 10,000 years ago, and for time immemorial before that.”

The food was provided by local community vendors, Amira’s Kitchen in Cheektowaga, Brothers on Ellicott Street in downtown Buffalo, and Buffalo Tikka House, just across Main Street from the medical school.

Through CommunityConnect, first-year medical student Maya Adeline Zalewski said she has had the privilege of working with GiGi’s Playhouse, an organization that provides free therapeutic, educational, and research-driven programs for individuals of all ages with Down syndrome. 

“Volunteering at GiGi’s has become a highlight of my week, thanks to the meaningful relationships I’ve developed with the program participants,” she said.

“Every Wednesday, along with other students in my group, I help plan, organize and execute activities for the adult program. We promote physical fitness by leading engaging workout classes, encourage creativity and skill development through fun crafts and games, and teach valuable cooking skills during our weekly cooking activities.”

Zalewski said the CommunityConnect program has integrated her into the Buffalo community, allowing her to raise awareness for often unheard populations.

Being matched with GiGi’s Playhouse is something she is especially grateful for, given her background of having a sister with special needs.

“My family and I have experienced the barriers to resources for these individuals firsthand, so having the opportunity to work with GiGi’s and provide an outlet for these individuals is incredibly meaningful to me,” Zalewski said.

Zalewski also serves as program manager for UB HEALS, the student-run street medicine outreach initiative, and one of the volunteer sites within the CommunityConnect program.

“Our volunteers are the heart and soul of UB HEALS, making our impactful work in the Buffalo community possible. They play a crucial role in ensuring we can provide essential resources and support to the unhoused population of Buffalo,” she said. “Our entire executive board and faculty advisers are endlessly grateful for their dedication and commitment to our mission.”

“This night served as a powerful reminder of why we do the work that we do. Hearing from the families of the leaders and changemakers who inspire the neighborhoods we first-years are assigned to was truly grounding,” Zalewski added.