Wellness Champion Fund Projects

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.