To Holly Lockrow, spending her days surrounded by young children is a dream job.

“I love this job,” Lockrow said as she sat at a table with four first grade students from the Troy School District. “It is very rewarding because I truly love the kids.”

For the past 28 years, Lockrow has been an occupational therapist. She’s spent most of her career working with elementary school students with special needs.

“When we start to see changes, even when it’s within one section or even when it’s just for today, that makes me happy,” she said as she helped the group spell out the names of the foods they hoped to eat during their holiday meals.

A few years back, Lockrow says she wanted to expand her skillset, so she decided to pursue a master’s degree. While in grad school, she signed up for the Area Health Education Center’s (AHEC) Clinical Scholars Program, which combines traditional learning with on-the-job training, often in underserved communities.

“This was all kind of new to me,” Lockgrow said. “I did not experience that through my occupational therapy degree.”

“I think a lot of students have an understanding of what healthcare might be like in a hospital setting, but at least 80% of health care is given in the community,” said Dr. Kathleen Kelly, a former nurse and longtime board member of the Hudson Mohawk AHEC.

Kelly believes the federal government program, which was established in 1972 to recruit and train healthcare workers, is needed now more than ever.

“Within hospitals, it is well known and they are short-staffed,” Kelly said. “The public health workforce, I think, has been underfunded for many years, and then the whole pandemic has really exacerbated some of the challenges.”

Kelly, who also serves as the dean of health sciences at Russell Sage College, says she’s encouraged that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently called on her colleagues in Congress to provide an additional $20 million for the 250 AHECs across the country to help address the staffing shortages.

“If we don’t act now, the problem will only grow,” Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said during a press conference held during late October in the Hudson Valley.

“That’s great news,” Kelly said. “If the additional funding is supported, that would be about $250,000 per AHEC, and that would really allow them to expand and develop a lot of their programs.”

Alice Antwi is working toward a master’s in public health at the University at Albany and was in Lockrow’s AHEC cohort.

“When I was choosing a career, I wanted something where I could serve people from underserved communities,” Antwi said.

Antwi believes the proposed funding would prove invaluable because it could lead to better care in underprivileged populations.

“I feel like it’s great work they do, and more money will probably open up more places they can potentially be involved with,” she said.

As she continues the work in her own community, Lockrow says the training she received at AHEC has helped her better understand the barriers the children face both in school and at home.

“The opportunity for me, it was a lot of work, but it was truly the best experience I could’ve brought into my profession,” Lockrow said.