Wellness Champion Fund Projects

Lora Clark and Bre Hardy in the Office of Student Conduct utilized their fund to create a de-stress room. This room is filled with elements that allow for rest and relaxation in the middle of stressful workdays. They incorporated zero-gravity chairs, an essential oils diffuser, snacks, books on mindfulness and more in this cozy space. Colleagues from all over the University are invited to drop by to take a break from their day.

Wellness Champion, Audrey Johnston, a Division Administrator for Obestrics and Gynocology in Basic Research used the Champion Fund to purchase a game table. This table has served as a spot to commune and team build with others in the workgroup. Audrey hosted a tournament to kick off the new addition to the office and has said the table receives regular visitors as they need breaks throughout their day.

Wellness Champion, Cheryl Barrett, used the funds to purchase lunch boxes and reusable water bottles for her lab. The 7CAM clinical laboratory does not allow food or drink due to the biohazard samples tested in the laboratory. As a result, dehydration is a problem among staff. To help solve this problem, Cheryl proposed purchasing reusable water bottles the staff could keep in their locker outside of the lab to have easy access to hydration. Additionally, Cheryl requested funding for lunch boxes that store prepared food. By providing lunch containers, Cheryl eliminated a barrier of the lack of access to food in the CAM and partnered with MyWay to Health to provide education surrounding healthy eating.

Wellness Champion, Jennifer Holzhauer, in the Department of Psychiatry, hosted a Wellness Week where she debuted the “You Matter Corner.” Items featured on this shelf were purchased using the Champion Fund. This designated area houses healthy snacks, mindfulness exercises, cookbooks, and other well-being resources for employees to come and grab throughout the day. Jennifer stated that the shelf was a big hit and that there was lots of positive feedback regarding the items.

Wellness Champion, Heather Roemerman, in Pediatric Hematology, hosted a half-day Wellness Event for her office. After administering the Workplace Wellness Scan, Heather was inspired to create a Wellness Day for her work space. Heather invited Meg, WashU’s mindfulness consultant, to guide her office through a mindfulness practice and also partnered with Bridgette, WashU’s onsite Nurse Advocate, to provide information about mental health and well-being resources that are available to WashU employees. Erin McGraw, one of WashU’s MyWay to Health Dietitians, also came and assisted employees in building healthy trail mix.

Wellness Champion, Edward del Rosario, in Medical Public Affairs, purchased watercolor sets using the Champion Fund. Edward wanted to create space in the work day to pause and allow for creative expression and community building. Using Edward’s art background, he teaches watercolor classes to his colleagues.

Wellness Champions, Mala Sharma, Jennifer Maher, and Sara DeCarlo, in the McDonnell Genome Institute, chose to utilize the fund to provide healthier snack options for their team. One of WashU’s MyWay to Health Dietitians worked with the Champions to assist in choosing healthy food options.

Wellness Champion, Liz Bayer, worked with Ellen Levine, Senior Consultant for HR Organization Development, to administer the Meyer’s Brigg’s Type Indicator. This assessment fostered communication and strengthened team dynamics by learning more about each team member. Liz and her supervisor are continuing to encourage their team to utilize the learned tools in communication with one another.

Wellness Champion, Mary Reid, in the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center, utilized the fund by hosting snack weeks for her department and created a cookbook to share with her department from all of the shared recipes.

Wellness Champions Tonya Doublin, Katrina Sopiars, and Kris Ochs in Medical Oncology chose to utilize the Champion Fund to start a book club within their department. The goal of this initiative was to cultivate connection and learn more about how the body handles trauma. They chose to read “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk and they meet every 3-4 weeks to cover a few chapters in each session.

Sherry Lohmann in Program in Physical Therapy started a “Walk & Talk” where employees in the department are encouraged to take walking meetings with colleagues to promote activity throughout the day. As walking meetings are accomplished, individuals complete an entry form in Qualtrics to make them eligible for a weekly drawing. Sherry chose to utilize the fund to purchase various prizes that support well-being to award the winners of the drawings.

Lara Jennings in the Office for International Students and Scholars utilized the Champion Fund to host a Staff Wellness Retreat Day for her office. With the funds, Lara created a fun Wellness Retreat Day that brought in chair massages for her team and provided drinks and hospitality snacks. They were also able to utilize the Rec Center’s Movement Studio, provide parking validations for all team members, and purchase a variety of wellness giveaways.

Raema Howell, Alicia Hubert, and Bridget Stevens in OFMD used their funds to create a Wellness Calendar. Their department hosted a recipe contest where taste panelists decided on the winning recipes that would appear in the calendar. The top recipes were featured in various months of the calendars and the calendars were distributed throughout their department. QR codes were located in the back of the calendar and linked to Box folders filled with healthy recipes. This was done in hopes of encouraging healthy eating over the course of 2023.

Katherine Aravamudan in Psychiatry, coordinated a Wellness Day for her department. The event took place at an off-campus site where chair massages were offered along with mindfulness activities and a yoga session. Additionally, the team shared with one another how they each maintain wellness in their everyday lives. This was done to encourage the team and inspired them to realize how wellness can be accessible to everyone.

Andrea Krussel and Cynthia Marich in the office of Health Information and Data Science have hosted Friday yoga sessions for the past 5 years and used this fund as an opportunity to make these sessions more easily accessible to those that come. Andrea and Cynthia purchased yoga mats for their sessions so their yogis don’t have to transport their mats to class. If you are interested in attending one of their yoga classes, they take place every Friday @12:00pm in the Danforth Chapel. More information here.

Cassaundra Sigaran in the office of Public Affairs took the initiative to use the fund to purchase a high quality smoothie blender. Cassaundra has made many delicious smoothies for her coworkers and hopes to host smoothie making workshops this spring to show and encourage her department how easy, healthy, and delicious smoothies can be.

Theresa Horn in the office of Public Safety and Campus Services has utilized this fund so far to purchase healthy snacks for the officers. In the fall, Theresa partnered with Physical Therapy to have them do a demonstration for the officers. This spring, Theresa is excited to partner with My Way to Health who will provide cooking demonstrations for the officers. Additionally, they are looking into providing healthy meal options for the officers during their shifts.

Jennifer Holzhauer in the department of Psychiatry chose to utilize the fund to host a Wellness Appreciation Week for her department. During this Wellness Week, snacks were provided to the employees along with written wellness affirmations. Additionally, Meg Krejci, WashU’s Mindfulness Coach, was invited to host a meditation session for interested employees. The fund was also used to purchase plants to brighten up the break room and supply plates and cutlery for the employees to use. Following this wellness week, Jennifer is hoping to take steps to engage more of the work-from-home population within her department.

Elizabeth Schappe and Erin Herrera in Anesthesiology partnered with their department to create exercise rooms. The rooms are available for employees in the department of Anesthesiology and provide an opportunity for movement during their work shift. Treadmills, free weights, exercise bands, and yoga mats are among some of the equipment that is now available to employees. Elizabeth stated that employees are utilizing the spaces and they are grateful for a dedicated area to work out during their shift.