Thank You to Our Many Alumnae WhoTook Action During the Pandemic

THANK YOU

to Our Many Alumnae Who Took Action During the Pandemic

By Renata Cioth Mulder P’17

Whether on the front line, doing contact tracing, making masks, raising funds, or delivering care packages, Ursuline alumnae seize opportunities to serve, as described in this reporting and first person accounts.

This global pandemic may seem overwhelming at times and endless, but we gain strength when we realize that many people are taking positive actions, whether in their jobs or as volunteers. We will indeed all continue to get through this together. We are pleased to share stories of Ursuline alumnae living out our school motto in the community – Serviam, I will serve.

THE FRONT LINE

Thank you to the incredibly courageous people, including countless Ursuline community members, who have been serving on the front line of this pandemic. We appreciate their numerous sacrifices and pray for their safety.

Dr. Nancy Amoroso ’92 is the Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at NYU Langone Health and her specialty is pulmonary and critical care medicine. She has clearly been on the front line in the fight against COVID-19. In October 2020, Nancy shared some of her experiences in an ABC7 news segment.

Dr. Amoroso noted that during the peak of COVID, close to 500 patients came through their ICU so they were very heavily impacted in terms of the volume of patients and the staffs that they needed to mobilize. In addition to the enormity of the medical challenge, the reality of it sank in especially clearly when they witnessed another physician die of COVID, or a hospital security guard or a member of the EMT.

However, there were numerous lessons learned. Medical knowledge increased as well as a new understanding of systems and how their hospital system works best. The medical professionals also were encouraged by the 7 o’clock cheering by New Yorkers. Said Nancy, “That was a really moving event. It meant a lot to watch. It just really made you feel you were appreciated for what you were doing.”

Nancy continued, “Probably the biggest thing is that our staff really showed a lot of dedication to their careers. That was probably the most uplifting, showing that people can come together.”

Dr. Nancy Amoroso, at left, with her NYU Langone colleagues

Caroline Maggard

Elena Poppas ’13 Kayla Leslie ’12 Caroline Maggard ’08

Walking the halls of New York Presbyterian in February 2020, you sensed we were preparing for battle...a battle against COVID-19. I am a nurse on the Postpartum Unit at Weill Cornell, a unit designated for recovering moms and newborn babies after delivery. It’s typically “the happy floor” of any hospital. Almost overnight, as disease and fear plagued New York City, mothers found themselves delivering with masks on and without family. My support and advocacy role for my patients became paramount. While we adjusted to enable each mom to have one partner or support person, we are constantly navigating the COVID-19 waters for our vulnerable dyad population. During the height of the pandemic, I was also “deployed” to adult medical/ surgical COVID units. With no additional training, I was called to care for an entirely new demographic. It was terrifying, but it taught me just how strong, capable and resilient I am as a nurse.

One of the greatest blessings during this time has been the Ursuline community. I am truly overwhelmed and humbled by the amount of outreach, support and prayer I have received from Ursuline faculty, alumnae and students. COVID also pushed me to reconnect with other Koalas working at my hospital and we now walk alongside each other as a reminder that, “Though one can be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

“To every person who stopped their day at 7pm to make noise, or open their windows, or even stopped to think about all of us, I thank you. ”

Andrea Fufidio ’12

As a nurse in an emergency department, I am always prepared for the unknown. I never know what will be rolling in through the front doors, but I am ready to take on the challenge. However, when March 2020 hit us with the COVID pandemic, there was nothing that could have equipped me for what was ahead.

I have always been a person of great passion – passion for service and for people. That is what drew me to nursing from the beginning. It was embedded in me from my four years at Ursuline that our purpose in life is “to serve;” it is the very message of Serviam that we deliver from the first day of orientation to our graduation day and beyond. Therefore, it was not a distant call for me when the world called nurses and other essential workers to serve during the darkest hours that we all have ever seen.

At the time, we were not sure of how this virus was spread, and therefore I had to isolate myself. Moving temporarily into New York City away from everyone during this time was difficult, but it was what had to be done to protect the people I love. Though it was hard, I knew it was the only way to keep my fiancé, parents, sisters, and grandparents safe, and it forced me to stay focused on work and caring for my patients. 2020 has changed me forever. I have said goodbye to patients when their families could not, said goodbye to my grandfather who lost his life to COVID, and said goodbye to everything that I knew as normal. But for all the negatives that took place that year, I have started to see the positives. The teamwork I have been a part of, the sacrifices that I have seen people make, and the selflessness that I have witnessed have proven to me that this time will provide a brighter future.

Looking back, I do not remember much. There was so much darkness and despair that it all blends together, and it is easier to forget than to force myself to remember. One memory that I do recall is one that will never leave my mind. My colleagues and I had just finished providing lifesaving interventions on a COVID-positive patient, and it had taken hours to finally transfer them to the Intensive Care Unit. When we returned, we sat at the nurse’s station in silence, exhausted by both the physical and mental aspects of what we had just done. The charge nurse told a few of us to go outside and get fresh air to clear our heads for the remainder of our shift.

We walked outside into the sunlight, which had lowered in the sky since it was about to set, and we all looked at each other unsure of what to say, and unsure of how we would get through this. At that exact moment, the cheers in the city began to erupt. Taxis driving by honked their horns, people in their apartments opened their windows to bang pots and pans, and people walking on the street stopped and gave us a round of applause. I immediately started to cry because it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It gave all of us the confidence to go back inside and finish our job for the day. To every person who stopped their day at 7pm to make noise, or open their windows, or even stopped to think about all of us, I thank you. Thank you for keeping a young nurse going in her darkest hours because it is truly what shed some light and gave me hope.

MASKS

In response to this pandemic, Alexandra Ferguson Clark ’99 refocused her successful pillow company, Alexandra Ferguson, to make special buttoned headbands for medical staff, to protect their ears as they wear masks through long shifts. Between March and May 2020, she and her team shipped 1,396 headbands to 19 hospitals and assisted-living facilities in 6 states.

Patrice McDermott ’84 is the Social Action Coordinator at The Ursuline School. In that role, she coordinated the numerous efforts of Ursuline students and families who sewed masks for those working on the front line during this battle against COVID-19. Patrice also made masks with Art teacher Pat DiIorio P’16. Ursuline President Eileen Davidson delivered masks to several alumnae who are medical workers, for further distribution at hospitals. She is pictured page left with Emergency Care Nurse Andrea Fufidio ’12.

Noelle Nevin ’23 delivered masks to Calvary Hospice Millicent Mullins ’22 made and donated many masks Essential workers happily giving their ears a rest wearing Alexandra’s buttoned headbands.

Patrice McDermott ’84

LEADING REGIS COLLEGE COVID SAFETY INITIATIVES

Every educational organization has had to work hard and creatively to develop safe reopening plans. Regis College is a coed, Catholic university in Weston, Massachusetts, 12 miles west of Boston with an enrollment of over 3,000 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. The college community is inspired by the social justice values of its founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston.

Ursuline alumna Mary Driscoll, PhD, ’74 joined Regis as Vice President of Academic Affairs in March 2020 just as the pandemic was spreading. In her senior leadership role, she was instantly involved in supporting student plans and the challenge of reopening safely.

Mary said, “We were fortunate to have a Harvard trained epidemiologist on staff to interpret COVID information and expertly advise us. The college’s adventurous but successful run is due to Laura’s expertise.” Dr. Laura Mignone Burke ’90 is the dean of the Regis College School of Health Sciences.

Under Mary and Laura’s leadership, Regis put in place safety protocols to be able to bring 400 students back to campus in residence in Fall 2020, based on majors, with preference to clinical placements. In Spring 2021, they added commuters. All students are working to complete competencies.

Laura also developed protocols for safely reopening the dental hygiene educational facility that provides affordable dental care services to Waltham and the surrounding community, and the autism center on the Regis campus. This meant that students could get the clinical practice they needed to qualify to sit for licensing exams and service was provided to the low-income community.

The Regis School of Health Sciences is a member of an academic heath consortium and took part in the vital work of coronavirus contact tracing in Massachusetts. Under Laura’s supervision, 14 public health students and three faculty volunteered to help the state’s 350 boards of health conduct contact tracing. After the initial phase, students then supported local boards of health with communications and outreach. A diverse group of students with multiple language skills was important to be able to communicate with communities where English is not the first language. Laura had the chance to describe this project in a WCVB Channel 5 Boston news report last year.

Mary and Laura share a wonderful Ursuline connection in their college work. Mary explained, “Ursuline gave us a healthy focus on scientific knowledge, that’s at the core, and the science has been changing. The credo of Serviam is similar to the Regis precept of love of neighbor – as demonstrated to our community, our students, our coworkers - so it is not surprising that we both ended up here.” Laura added, “At Ursuline, I started to live out my need to serve – I went on an Appalachian trip and was an active member of a community outreach club.” Now, Laura and Mary serve in multiple ways to keep their community healthy.

The Pagano Family with the National Guard

CARE PACKAGES FOR HOSPITALS AND SOLDIERS

Another Koala who made us proud is Mar Healy ’16 who, along with her mother Margaret an ICU nurse, founded Codefrontline to provide care packages for our dedicated front line workers. The pair delivered over 1,500 packages to 25 area hospitals and organizations. Their special effort was featured on NBC New York. Mar and @codefrontline also delivered gift packs to the staff of Calvary Hospice at Home.

Each day brought a new story of how Ursuline alumnae have been living out the mission of Serviam in these immensely challenging times. MaryLou LaSala Pagano ’83 and daughter Caroline ’18, (pictured above) inspired by their son and brother, a First Lieutenant in the National Guard, created gift bags including snacks and Target gift cards for his unit of 170 men and women who worked around the clock for one month straight. The Paganos are deeply grateful to the many friends and family members who contributed to this special effort.

Volunteers from Feeding Westchester

SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT FOOD INSECURITY

Jenna Russo ’03 has been using the communications skills honed as a TV journalist to publicize actions aimed at relieving food shortages. At the start of the pandemic, she worked as Director of Public Relations for Feeding Westchester, the county’s leading non-profit, hunger relief organization. Jenna produced a series of videos for Feeding America and nearly 100 member food banks across the nation to help feed families from coast to coast. She also produced Feeding Westchester’s first-ever televised COVID-19 fundraiser, Westchester Strong, to raise money for her neighbors in need.

In September 2020, Jenna took on the new role of Director of Content & Special Projects for the Food Bank for New York City, one of the largest food banks in America. One in five people in New York City (and in Westchester County) go to bed hungry. It is Jenna’s mission to change the stigma surrounding hunger and to change the narrative of what it means to lean on a food bank or a food pantry for

help. “Hunger looks like you and me,” says Jenna. “It’s White, Black, Latino, Asian, it’s old and young, it’s families, seniors and children. I see people on our lines in suits coming after work. So many people are struggling now. COVID sort of leveled the playing field. We are helping people who have one and two jobs and others who lost their job because of the pandemic. It’s not homeless people, you know?” Through compelling video storytelling, Jenna helps to drive the conversation and educate people about hunger in New York City -- the richest city in the world. Jenna’s work helps raise funds to buy more food and help more people in need -- and the need now is greater than ever. Jenna also shows donors the impact on people’s lives and where their dollars are going. “Be bound to one another by the bond of charity.” St. Angela Merici e

Meghan Foster ’15 & Maggie Sullivan ’15 at NYU Langone Liz Murphy ’05, Andrea Fufidio ’12 and Danielle DeRosa ’05 with colleagues at MSK's Urgent Care Center in NYC.

HUNGRY HEROES

In the early days of this pandemic, the Advancement Team connected with alumnae at several hospitals and arranged to provide meals to the medical workers. It was an honor to deliver dinner to the brave health care professionals at NYU Langone Health, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Urgent Care Center in New York City, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital on the Upper East Side of New York City.

RUNNING FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

Ursuline women are undeterred. Katie Carsky ’12 ran a solo marathon on April 20, 2020. It wasn’t the Boston Marathon as intended, but Katie took to the iconic Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, running 26.2 miles ending in Van Cortlandt Park. Katie, a Boston College undergrad, graduated virtually from Tulane University School of Medicine in May with plans to begin her residency for general surgery at Lenox Hill. Katie was raising money for Tulane Healthcare Providers Fund to support those on the front line in New Orleans. Katie is literally Serviam in action!