November 14, 2016
Hello! My name is Laura Beth , but everyone calls me L.B. I’m from Tuscaloosa and have lived here my entire life. I received both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from The University of Alabama. As an undergrad, I interned at Tuscaloosa’s One Place, a family resource center that promotes self-sufficiency, strengthening families and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. During graduate school, I interned at University Medical Center, a multispecialty health care practice operated by the UA College of Community Health Sciences. After I graduated with my MSW, I started working with The University of Alabama-Pickens County Partnership. In just over three months, I have already learned more from this experience than I could have ever imagined. First, I’d like to tell you a little about myself: I am a laid-back and positive person, always eager to learn new things and to understand things from different points of view. I enjoy college and NFL football, college and NBA basketball, reading, exercising, yoga, puzzles, music and being with friends and family. I especially love Alabama football and basketball! I am obsessed with my dog. Also, I just got married this past August! I have so many stories to share, but for now I’d like to let you know a little about my role in the UA-Pickens County Partnership. I am one of four fellows employed through The University of Alabama. We each have our own project of interest. My project focuses on geriatrics. I am working with each senior activity center in the county to provide education and activities by connecting resources and teaching certain things. I am in the second phase of the project, which is scheduling and organizing various things to bring to the centers. Each center will be different in choosing what activities and education to receive. The third phase will be the implementation of the education and activities. I have scheduled a painting class for one of the center locations. I am excited to see how that goes. The fellows and I also work with various UA faculty and staff to assist in their work. I work with the UA School of Law and help with the new Medical Legal Partnership (MLP). I am also helping with a new Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Pickens County Medical Center. We also have a group project. For our project, we will perform wellness/health screenings at Pickens County schools. Our screenings will have three educational booths where we will check BMI, height, weight and blood pressure. During my time in Pickens County, I have loved getting to know the community and people. Because this is a new fellowship and partnership with Pickens County, we are creating and learning about several exciting things–and I have loved every minute of it! I am so excited to see what comes from our work in Pickens County. Thank you for taking the time to read this little introduction. I hope you continue to follow our story!
