Special Events

The CELC hosts special events in collaboration with our WashU campus and community partners. Our students are actively involved in these events, whether they are leading the project, participating in the activity, volunteering or attending. These events provide opportunities for experiential learning, professional development, community engagement and social networking for students.

Assistive Tech Make-A-Thon

Organized by the Program in Occupational Therapy , the McKelvey School of Engineering, the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts with support from Cecropia Strong, a non-profit that aids persons with disabilities, and the MO Better Foundation, the Assistive Tech Make-A-Thon is an annual event in which students from OT and Engineering work together to design assistive tech for St. Louisans with physical challenges. Eight teams have one week to design and build an assistive device in the Spartan Light Metal Products Makerspace that meets the specific needs of current WashU OT patients and community members who serve as co-designers. The opening and closing are held in the CELC. The annual Make-A-Thon launched in 2024 to great success and was featured by St. Louis Public Radio in 2025.

HSSU Summer Pathways Program

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU), in partnership with the Program in Occupational Therapy, presented a one-week summer academic immersion experience in the CELC focused on introducing HSSU students to the career of occupational therapy (OT) in August 2023. Six HSSU students participated in the “Summer Pathways Program.” Students learned about OT’s role in maternal health, fall prevention, pediatrics, hospitals, and community mental health. Activities outside the CELC included a community outing to the independent living center Paraquad, watching the movie “Crip Camp,” and exploring the accessibility and usability of HSSU’s Dr. Henry Givens Administration building. Student facilitators Alivia Dixon, MSOT/S ’24, and Khalia Rucker, OTD/S ’25, led several activities, encouraged participation, and engaged with students daily.

Wisdom Art Exhibit

The CELC hosted the opening reception of the art exhibit, “Wisdom: Celebrating the Creativity of Community Elders” in September 2023. The exhibit was part of the collaboration between the CELC and Dr. Paulette Sankofa, with the support of the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. It featured the art of community elders, most of whom were African American. Faculty, staff and students engaged with the artists during the exhibit, a panel presentation and a dance performance.

Festability After-Party

Following a day-long event at the Missouri History Museum, Festability hosted an exclusive after-party in the CELC with headliner Ali Stroker, the first person who uses a wheelchair to win a Tony award, in October 2023. The event was a celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in 1990. Students assisted with setting up the room, helping to serve the food and joined in on the fun with karaoke.

WU-COTAD’s Stop the Bleed (The T)

The Washington University-Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity (WU-COTAD) held a Stop the Bleed (the T) training event in February 2024 in the CELC. Students learned about the ABCs of bleeding control: A) alert, 911; B) bleeding, find the source of the bleeding; and C) compress from The T, a health education and resource center at 5874 Delmar Blvd. Students practiced using tourniquets and placing them appropriately, while also simulating "wound packing" with gauze and keeping their client calm, warm, and in a position that slows bleeding (laying down).

MOTA CEU Event

The Missouri Occupational Therapy Association's (MOTA's) St. Louis District held a Continuing Education Units (CEU) event to celebrate OT Month in April 2024. This event focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice issues in OT, providing a call to action for members of our profession. This event was open to all OT professionals, including students, practitioners, faculty and staff of OT programs, and those working in any capacity to support our profession.

Reframing: A Call to Inclusion

The Program in Occupational Therapy was a co-sponsor of the Department of Anesthesiology’s “Reframing: A Call to Inclusion” event in May 2024, an empowering half-day symposium designed to uplift voices and celebrate the diversity of experiences among individuals with genetic, physical, behavioral or intellectual differences. Faculty member Kerri Morgan, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, was a keynote speaker and addressed healthcare inequities and ableism in medical education. The other keynote speaker was Rick Guidotti, founder and director of Positive Exposure. His award-winning inclusive photography showcases the unique experiences and strengths of individuals with physical and non-apparent disabilities. The event featured a photo exhibit of Guidotti's work. In July 2024, the CELC hosted the closing reception for Guidotti’s powerful and moving photography.

VOt-ER

Second-year doctoral students (OTD/S ’26) Mikayla Wise, Lauren Leonardi and Ariella Levy were at Hope Plaza in the Medical School Plaza and WashU Medicine student Kavya Parekh and Duana Russell-Thomas, OTD, OTR/L, were at CareSTL Health on Oct. 9, 2024, helping register voters as part of Vot-ER, a nonpartisan effort that the interprofessional extracurricular student group, the Health Professional Student Leadership Council (HPSLC), is spearheading that helps eliminate the health social determinate factor behind voting. We thank Care STL Health, the Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, HPSLC and LouHealth STL for helping with this important effort.

WashU Campus or Community Partner Events

The CELC also hosts special events for our WashU campus or community partners. We are proud to provide a gathering space for important meetings, programming, open dialogues, retreats, collaborations and celebrations.

The SYNCHRONY Project: The CELC has hosted meetings for The SYNCHRONY Project since Fall 2023, a clinical service offered through WashU Child Psychiatry addressing the unmet mental health needs of young children at extreme high risk for maltreatment and its consequences by integrating the efforts of clinical experts in infancy and early childhood with community family support and social service teams.
The Village PATH: The CELC hosted leadership retreats in May 2023 for The Village PATH, a local nonprofit dedicated to decreasing the stigma and barriers associated with Black men’s mental health. Their Black male counselors provide help and healing to community members.
Freedom Arts & Education Center creates artistic, academic, and advancement opportunities to feed, heal, and teach the youth of St. Louis. The CELC hosted the culminating event for their summer camp in July 2023 and June 2024 for their “little scholars” and parents. Duana Russell-Thomas, OTD, OTR/L, also introduced them to occupational therapy on Career Day at the center.
Bertha Black Rhoda Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. held a “Sisters in Health” event in March 2024 at the CELC. This community-wide health and wellness event provided free health screenings, vendors and a panel discussion that addressed physical, mental/emotional, spiritual and financial health.
Collaborative Café: In April 2024, the CELC hosted the Collaborative Café: Conducting Research with a Racial Equity Lens, the final session of their Racial Equity series that explored how different scholars use a racial equity lens to guide their research at each phase, from ideation to dissemination. The Collaborative Café is presented by the Center for Community Health Partnership & Research at the Institute for Public Health and Institute of Clinical & Translational Science.
Dream Big Summer Camp: The CELC hosted the Starkloff Disability Institute’s Dream Big Summer Camp in June and July 2024. The Dream Big program empowers college and technical school-bound youth with disabilities to dream big about their future. The program aims to show students that they can do many things that their non-disabled peers can do, and they should not limit their career goals.
The Community Power Project, which empowers adults with disabilities to meet creative goals, celebrated Friendsgiving with a potluck on Nov. 23. There were 15 guests and an assortment of delicious food. It was a great opportunity to connect with the community to share gratitude for our relationships and resources. They also discussed plans for 2025 gatherings and potential fundraising opportunities.
The CELC hosts the weekly Adolescent DBT and Family Resiliency Program’s multi-family skills group held by WashU Medicine Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The program provides standard Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to teens and their families in the St. Louis Region. It aims to teach teens and their families the skills and tools to reduce crisis behaviors, decrease hospital visits, and empower healthy relationships that lead to a Life Worth Living.

Photo Gallery

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Partner with Us

If your community organization is interested in learning more about partnering with the CELC, please contact Duana Russell-Thomas, OTD, OTR/L, at [email protected].