Welcome to “Paying it Forward,” a monthly interview series made possible by Piedmont Health. In this series, we hear from the folks at Piedmont about the importance of community health centers – and why they chose a career in community health.
This month, Aaron welcomes physician Dr. Evan Ashkin and behavioral health consultant Mary Tayloe. They work with the Formerly Incarcerated Transition program (FIT for short), providing health services to individuals returning to society after incarceration.
“Unfortunately when people are released from incarceration, they oftentimes struggle with many aspects of putting their lives together, and health falls off the radar,” says Ashkin. “The FIT program is about hiring people that are formerly incarcerated, training them as community health workers, and then putting them in places like Piedmont. So we have a FIT clinic (there), where we take care of people recently released.”
Ashkin launched the FIT program in Durham in 2017. Since then, FIT has served more than 1,000 people across nine counties.
“I love working with our patients,” says Tayloe, who’s been with Piedmont Health for five years. “When folks are coming out of incarceration, they don’t have a lot of resources. They might not have a place to live, no family or friends in the area. And being able to lock in, listen to a patient’s story, listen to what they need, is really rewarding. (You) might be the only person that they’ve really talked to today, and you can feel that.”
Ashkin concurs. “I can talk about one young woman that we’ve worked with for a number of years, who’s had many, many challenges,” he says. “A lot of women, coming out of incarceration, really struggle with family reunification – and (she) just came in and was so excited to tell us that she was going to be getting one of her children back. It was just really a beautiful moment for her, and it’s going to be a wonderful thing to have that family reunited.”
Ashkin and Tayloe both say they love working with Piedmont Health Services, which offers a wide variety of physical and mental services for anyone who walks in the door.
“I’m based at UNC, (but) my heart really lies in community health,” Ashkin says, “Piedmont (takes) care of a lot of our marginalized and minoritized patients, and that’s sort of been a focus of my career… Everyone is welcome (at Piedmont), regardless of where they’re from or what language they speak. We are there to serve them.”
97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.
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'Paying It Forward' with Evan Ashkin and Mary TayloeAaron welcomes Piedmont Health's Evan Ashkin and Mary Tayloe, who work with the Formerly Incarcerated Transition program.
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