Above are the Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation SHIP scholarship recipients, Luz Castaneda (Fillmore), Maria Isabel Alba (Santa Paula), Juan Castro (Fillmore), Arely Garza (Santa Paula), Marcus Lopez (Fillmore) and AudriRose Riggatire (Santa Paula). Photo credit Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation.

Courtesy Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation
One of the Santa Clara Valley Wellness Foundation’s most significant community contributions is their annual paid Dr. Samuel Edwards Summer Health Internship Program (SHIP). This opportunity is open to high school juniors and seniors who reside in Fillmore, Piru, or Santa Paula and who are interested in pursuing a career in the broader medical field. Some
of this year’s applicants included prospective orthodontists, biomedical engineers, OBGYN physicians, morticians, and anesthesiologists. Once interviews were complete, Luz Castaneda, Steven Marcus Lopez, Juan Castro, AudriRose Riggatire, Maria Isabel Alba, and Arely Garza De Jesus earned one of the six limited program spaces. In collaboration with the HOPE SUMMER STUDENT PROGRAM, each intern rotated between hospital and clinic settings, where they observed orthopedic operations, breast reconstructions, and cesarean sections, among other surgeries. They also learned to perform urine tests and blood samples and even practiced suturing on synthetic skin. By the closing ceremony on 8/3, all six interns were immensely grateful for the perspective altering insight they had gained. Their parents’ recalled (and recoiled from) stories their children brought home regarding the equally frightening and enthralling cases they witnessed daily. For some students, SHIP redirected intended career paths. “You don’t really choose the specialty, the specialty chooses you,” Lopez asserted regarding his change in career choice from medical professor to family physician. For others, the program reaffirmed their initial vocational paths and reinvigorated the passion they have for service. After earning their degrees, it would be a privilege to see these students return to our hospitals and clinics and pave the way forward in
medical technology. The SCVWF offers this program with the hope of developing and retaining future healthcare providers
in the Santa Clara Valley. Castaneda explained that “later on I’m going to be able to give back to my community who gave back to me when I needed it the most. I’m very thankful for that.” In order to continue this stream of future providers, community support is vital. The foundation invites you to its annual Health and Harvest Pumpkin Festival on 9/29 at the
Santa Paula Agriculture Museum from 12:00pm 4:00pm. The event will host vendors, a bake sale, pumpkin decorating crafts, a live mariachi, health education, and more. They hope to both earns donations for the 2025 SHIP program and promote a sense of community among Santa Clara Valley residents.