Spotlight: Making an Impact at Neighborhood Health Centers

By Kaley Johnson

Cook Children’s Neighborhood Health Centers provide a pediatric medical home for the health care needs of children. That goes beyond immunizations, sick visits and checkups. The team members at our clinics provide education, family support, connections to community resources, and a continuation of care to families across Dallas-Fort Worth. 

We talked with three remarkable women about their personal journey and what it means to serve community families in their roles.

Dayo Jolayemi, LMSW, LCSW, is a Social Worker with the integrated behavioral health team. Dayo, who has been at Cook Children’s for 11 years, is primarily located at the Renaissance Health Center on East Berry Street and the Arlington Health Center on South Cooper Street. Her main role is to conduct mental health triage/assessments, consult with physicians in crisis situations, and provide crisis intervention/safety planning. If a child has mood or behavioral changes, for example, Dayo is available to consult with the doctor, provide biopsychosocial assessment, and assist with connecting patients to the in-clinic therapists, or provide appropriate community resources. She also works with new moms, with the assistance of the in-clinic family advocates by connecting them to support groups, as well as mental and physical resources within the community as needed. 

Dayo grew up in Nigeria before moving to London and then Houston. She graduated from Texas Woman's University with a bachelor's degree in social work, and a master's degree in social work from University of Texas at Arlington -- a good match for her passion of empowering people around her and within the community, she says. Working in our Neighborhood Health Centers allows her to work with people who might otherwise have limited access to behavioral health services and/or resources. 

Sometimes, Dayo notes, she and the behavioral health team might be the first people to validate and listen to a parent’s behavioral health concerns. 

“For most of the patients we encounter, we are the first behavioral health professionals to explain behavioral health services to them and offer the option,” Dayo said. “With my role, we are able to assess and provide resources according to the patient and/or family need.” 

Dayo works with family advocates, therapists within the clinic as well as other community groups to provide families with accessible resources. 

Her favorite part about her job, Dayo said, is the team she works alongside. 

“The connection we have, and our purpose regarding the children/families we care for makes us a solid team.” 

LaTrice Carter has been the Practice Manager at the Miller Neighborhood Health Center for three years and has been with Cook Children's for a total of seven years. In her role, she ensures the clinic flows properly by making certain that providers’ schedules are accommodating for patients and by overseeing staffing needs for the clinic. 

LaTrice is familiar with this community because she grew up there, hailing from just a few streets over from the clinic where she now works. She graduated from Jarvis Christian University with a bachelor's of science degree in kinesiology and history. 

LaTrice says, “I felt the need to give back to the community and I wanted to come and work for Cook Children’s and be available for these families. It feels amazing to be able to give back to my community, provide resources and educate them.” 

The Neighborhood Health Centers are strategically placed in communities that have difficulty accessing quality healthcare, especially with Medicaid health plans. The Health Centers are able to provide patient families not only with health care, but also education and resources that they may not receive elsewhere. The clinics provide routine health care along with behavioral health care, and access to dieticians, speech therapy and family advocates. 

The Miller Health Center staff also works with the surrounding community to provide families with resources to address food insecurity and sites for local food banks. The Miller Health Center is partnered with the Cook Children’s Homeless Initiative program, allowing access for members of the community experiencing homelessness to receive quality health care. 

“It’s a privilege to work for my community and for these families to see a person of color in a leadership role,” LaTrice said. 

“As a Black woman, it’s not only important to give back to my community but show representation for minority professionals in health care. This month we celebrate Black history, and I am honored to Cook Children’s for giving me this opportunity to give back to the community where I will always belong."

Candle Johnson, CPNP-PC

Candle Johnson, CPNP-PC, is an Advanced Practice Provider at Renaissance Neighborhood Health Center. After living on the east coast, her family moved to Fort Worth when she was three years old. 

“We lived on the south side, located close to Mitchell Boulevard and Berry Street, and I attended Mitchell Boulevard Elementary School. “I had no clue of what I wanted to become in life, but I always had a passion for people and wanting to help others. I was very talkative and had an outgoing personality; I really never met a stranger.”

She took an interest in the nursing field as an undergraduate student a Midwestern State University and fell in love with nursing. After working for nine years as a registered nurse, she went back to school to earn a master's degree in pediatric nursing from Texas Woman's University to become a pediatric nurse practitioner. 

Shortly after, she accepted a position at the Renaissance clinic, which is close by to where she grew up. 

“Life truly took me full circle; I have the opportunity to serve in the community where I grew up,” Candle said. “My elementary school is in walking distance from my clinic.” 

Growing up, Candle said, she did not see many professionals who looked like her when she went to the doctor or dentist office. 

“As a Black woman, it’s not only important to give back to my community, but show representation for minority professionals in health care,” she said. "This month we celebrate Black history, and I am honored to Cook Children’s for giving me this opportunity to give back to the community where I will always belong."