Center for Reducing Health Disparities: CRSI

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Center for Reducing Health Disparities

Working to Reduce Disparities through Research, Education, and Community Partnerships

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Meet the Scholars

Blanca Figueroa
With over 6 years of experience in the Non-Profit sector, Blanca Figueroa has played an integral role in providing health and human service programming to underprivileged individuals & families in the Near West Side community. Currently, she serves as the Director of Operations for the May Dugan Center. In this capacity, she is responsible for overseeing day to day building operations, supervises the Center’s Food and Clothing Distribution Program and coordinates the newly developed Health and Wellness Program. In addition, she actively assists with Board related activities, volunteer recruitment and, during the holiday season, coordinates the Adopt-A-Family program by matching community donors with some of the Center’s neediest clients.

Prior to working in Cleveland, Blanca lived in Southern California where she worked as a bilingual liaison for the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor, Michael D. Antonovich. She also held the position of Senior Program Leader for the City of Palmdale’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Blanca is a member of a network of Latino leaders who strive to empower members of the Latino community through education and advocacy. She currently serves on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Spanish Advisory Committee as Chair of the Bilingual Poll Worker Recruitment and Retention subcommittee, holds the position of Secretary for the CSU award winning group the Young Latino Network, and has been selected as a member of Kaleidoscope Magazine’s “Cuarenta/Cuarenta” Club.

Kimberly Juhas, MA
Kimberly Juhas has been a member of the Trauma Services team at Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons (MHS) for over 4 years. MHS helps those who are homeless, mentally ill, suicidal, in crisis, and traumatized. Some of the programs that Trauma Services houses are the Children Who Witness Violence Program, Defending Childhood Initiative Central Intake, and Violent Loss Response Team. The department provides in-home mental health and crisis-related services to children and families in Cuyahoga County, most of whom have been affected by violence or traumatic loss.

Kim’s interest in research was sparked during her undergraduate coursework at Kent State University and fully ignited while completing her Master’s thesis for Goddard College’s independent study counseling program. She has since gravitated towards opportunities to help conduct research, and in her current job at MHS, she works with much of the data needs for Trauma Services. She also recently recruited for and assisted with data collection for Violence, Sleep, and Child Health, a research project conducted by Case School of Medicine’s Dr. James Spilsbury.

Kim feels that it is important to make a positive impact on others in the work that she does. Outside of work, Kim immerses herself in activities that promote health and stress relief, including yoga, meditation, and growing her own food. She also operates a small business that provides Reiki, guided meditations, and workshops, and volunteers some of these skills in the community.

Patricia J. Terstenyak, MPH, CH
Patricia Terstenyak is a public health professional and a certified health education specialist. She serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator at Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio where she manages the Community Health Advisors program. Komen Community Health Advisors are trained lay community volunteers who identify and teach women the importance of breast health screenings and help women reduce any barriers they may encounter.
Patricia earned her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Sciences from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Cleveland State University. Her areas of concentration include: health literacy, health disparities and community health.

She currently lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio with her son Jacob.