Care Buddies
New York, NY
This initiative was started in Winter 2020 as a response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Our mission is to address the need for more child care support in the healthcare community by connecting parents with pre-med students. In turn, we hope to provide pre-meds with unique opportunities to network with physicians/physicians-in-training. Often times, healthcare professionals-in-training are under strict financial and time restrictions. We aim to alleviate some of these burdens by having "care buddies", or volunteer pre-meds, chaperone the children of busy healthcare professionals.
WHAT WE DO
Our care buddies will do...
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Chaperoning to and from places (ex: soccer practice to band rehearsal)
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Playground visits
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Tutoring
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Arts & Crafts
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Reading
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Maker Projects
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Board Games
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And many more!
OUR IMPACT SO FAR...
Since launching in January 2021, we've had 20 care buddies service families in all five boroughs!
MEET THE TEAM
Sonia Chen
Founder, Co-President
Hello! I'm Sonia. When COVID-19 struck, our nation's physicians rose to combat it. As many worked tirelessly around the clock to meet the surge in patients, I couldn't help but think of their kids. With the closing of in person schooling and the prolonged absence of their parent(s), the most vulnerable among us must be having a difficult time adjusting. In my job working with children, I was confronted with the lack of childcare resources available to families during this difficult period. Spurred on by my own experiences and the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to find a way to give back to the healthcare community in a lasting manner. And so, Care Buddies was born.
Melissa Zhang
Co-President
Hello! My name is Melissa Zhang and I graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a minor in Business from Cornell University. Since graduating, I have been working as a research assistant developing single-cell RNA-seq techniques to study Alzheimer's Disease at The Rockefeller University.
CONTACT US
We are always looking for new volunteers! If you would like to volunteer or know individuals who would benefit from our organization, please reach out!