Gifts to Loyola Clinical Centers to fund Grief and Trauma Fee Offset program

A recent gift from Dr. Irene and Martin L. Yankellow, Jr., will support the Grief and Trauma Clinic Fee Offset program through Loyola’s Clinical Centers (LCC). The program will assist families in the Baltimore community who seek out grief and trauma services at the LCC.

Correct Rx Pharmacy Services Inc., where Martin Yankellow is vice president, also matched the Yankellows’ gift amount.

This fund will allow the LCC to provide fee offsets so residents of Baltimore can secure care regardless of financial constraints. The support of this program will have an immediate impact on the LCC’s ability to serve children and families, and will provide the opportunity  to offer child grief groups, child trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and parent and caregiver workshops on raising healthy children and violence prevention.

“It’s humbling to receive these gifts and also recognizes that the work we are doing is beneficial to the city of Baltimore,” said Kara Vincent, ’91, M.S., ’93, executive director of the LCC. “Our impact in Baltimore grows exponentially when we have philanthropic support. This is work that is needed, especially for the children who have not had the recent experiences to socialize during the pandemic.”

About the Grief and Trauma Curriculum

 The LCC is one of four institutions—including Wayne State, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and St. John’s University—who have joined to form a multi-site collaborative of university-based graduate training clinics committed to enhancing training in grief and trauma prevention and intervention services and to expand those services in their respective communities. 

Loyola was selected as the southeast representative after St. John’s University invited institutions to apply to be part of the collaborative.  Loyola was chosen because of its mission, its dedication to marginalized populations, and its geographic location. 

“At the LCC, we are committed to ensuring that health care clinicians have essential training in trauma-sensitive care in order to better serve the community,” said Hadley Cornell, Psy.D., clinical assistant professor of psychology and division director of psychology at the LCC, who worked with Harriette Wimms, Ph.D., affiliate faculty for psychology, to apply for Loyola to adopt the curriculum. “In Baltimore, 56% of children have experienced some form of trauma, meaning Baltimore children are more likely than not to have experienced trauma. With such a staggering statistic, prevention and intervention trauma services must be readily accessible. It is important that we work together to build resilience in our children, so they are better prepared for and more able to successfully navigate through such negative experiences.”

Generous Support of the Program

Martin Yankellow, who grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Loyola Blakefield, earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.A. in history from Hiram College. After closing his private practice as a trial attorney in 2006, he joined Correct Rx as the director of regulatory affairs. 

“Growing up with a Jesuit education, I know that you are called upon to serve to others. It matters what you do and not what you say,” said Martin Yankellow, vice president of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services Inc. and chair of the Loyola Clinical Centers Board of Advisors. “My wife and I are interested in individual intervention in families. Having witnessed the dedication of faculty, commitment from Loyola’s president and the available resources at the LCC, we knew making this gift was the right decision.”

Irene Yankellow, DNP, received her Bachelor of Science in psychology and nursing from Loyola University Chicago. She went on to earn her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019. Irene Yankellow works as a survivorship nurse practitioner and program coordinator at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

More about the LCC

The Loyola Clinical Centers (LCC) provides treatment for people experiencing difficulties in the areas of psychology, literacy, hearing, speech, and language. The LCC operates from two state-of-the-art facilities including, Belvedere Square in Baltimore City and Loyola's Columbia Graduate Center in Columbia, Md. Some services are also provided off-site through partnerships with schools and community agencies. The LCC has been providing services both in-person and through a virtual format to accommodate clients during the pandemic.