{"id":779,"date":"2025-10-01T10:32:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T10:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-876105-5672448.cloudwaysapps.com\/?page_id=779"},"modified":"2026-02-03T16:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:51:17","slug":"engage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/engage\/","title":{"rendered":"ENGAGE"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Empowering Communities<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Service that strengthens community health<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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We deliver care where it\u2019s needed most. Through pro bono clinics and community partnerships, SHP advances access, equity, and outcomes across New Jersey\u2014empowering students and communities alike through initiatives from food justice to spinal cord injury recovery, proving that compassionate, hands-on care transforms lives.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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IMPACT<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Clinic Patient Care Hours<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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3,800 <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Clinic Student Service Hours<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2500<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Food Delivered<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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190k lbs.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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DELIVERING COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY CARE <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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When the Rutgers School of Health Professions Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation & Counseling Professions opened a mental health clinic in January 2025, it expanded the reach of SHP\u2019s pro bono clinics to include behavioral health, filling an important gap in providing a continuum of care to its surrounding communities.<\/p>

Through these community-based clinics, SHP provides primary care, rehabilitation, and now mental health services to populations who are often uninsured or underinsured and might otherwise go without.<\/p>

The expanded network of community clinics reflects SHP\u2019s commitment to holistic care \u2014treating not just individual conditions, but the wider needs of its surrounding communities.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rutgers\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD THE FULL STORY<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/details>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A Quiet Revolution in Mental Health: Celebrating 25 years of Psychiatric Rehabilitation <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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For 25 years, a quiet but powerful transformation has been taking place in New Jersey\u2019s state psychiatric hospitals.<\/p>

A Rutgers-based team has been steadily changing the way inpatient psychiatric hospitals treat those with serious and persistent mental illness, replacing outdated custodial care with evidence-based psychiatric rehabilitation and modern, recovery-oriented approaches.<\/p>

Launched as a partnership between Rutgers School of Health Professions and the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the initiative\u2019s goal is not just to stabilize those with mental illnesses, but to help them rebuild their lives and reenter the community.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Adult\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD THE FULL STORY<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/details>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Through their eyes: Newark Mothers Explore Food Inequity Using Photography <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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When a Newark mother used a wheelchair to lower herself to her child\u2019s eye level in the grocery store, what she saw startled her: row after row of ultra-processed snacks, sugary cereals, and brightly colored drinks\u2014all within easy reach of a preschooler. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe how everything was designed to target them,\u201d she said.<\/p>

That moment was sparked by a partnership between Rutgers School of Health Professions and a Newark Head Start agency using Photovoice\u2014a participatory research method that empowers community members to document issues in their daily lives through photography. The project\u2019s goal was not just to study food insecurity, but to help families in underserved areas question the systems that shape how and what their children eat.<\/p>

\u201cAs a culture, we bombard low-income communities with advertisements for fast food and ultra-processed food,\u201d said Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia, professor in preventive nutrition science and qualitative methods researcher. \u201cThis was about engaging people as experts in their own lives and helping them critically examine their food environments.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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True Grit: Helping Young People with spinal cord injuries reclaim independence <\/div><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg><\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/summary>\n\t\t\t\t
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On a summer morning at Rutgers\u2019 Livingston Campus, a group of teens and young adults in wheelchairs roll across the quad, heading to breakfast in the dorm dining hall. Later, some will take part in adaptive sports. Others will swap stories over coffee at the campus Starbucks.<\/p>

All are part of True Grit\u2014a first-of-its-kind residential summer camp that helps young people with spinal cord injuries rediscover confidence, community, and a sense of possibility.<\/p>

Many of the participants, aged 16 to 21, were athletes before their injuries\u2014football players, cheerleaders, competitors used to working in teams. Now, navigating life in a wheelchair, they\u2019re coming together to build new teams, new routines\u2014and hope for their future.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Young\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD THE FULL STORY<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/details>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Empowering Communities Service that strengthens community health We deliver care where it\u2019s needed most. Through pro bono clinics and community partnerships, SHP advances access, equity, and outcomes across New Jersey\u2014empowering<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-779","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":171,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4589,"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/779\/revisions\/4589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shp.rutgers.edu\/community-impact-report\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}