Announcing the Three Finalists for This Year’s Health Hero Challenge

Introducing the top three contenders for the 2021 Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge.

The results are in! We are thrilled to announce the three finalists for the 2021 Be Well Philly Health Hero Challenge presented by Independence Blue Cross.

We started the process of finding this year’s Health Hero with a record number of nominations, leading to 10 incredible semifinalists — all of whom are working to change health outcomes for the better in their communities. From there, you narrowed down to these three finalists, and now it’s time to choose the winner! You can vote once per day now until November 15th.

We chatted with the three finalists to hear more about the work they’re doing and the nonprofits they’re supporting. Listen to their videos to hear their stories!

Tahirah Austin-Muhammad

Who: Tahirah Austin-Muhammad, co-founder and chief operations officer for sickle cell-focused organization, Crescent Foundation.

Nonprofit of choice: Crescent Foundation, a local nonprofit providing resources for those impacted by sickle cell disease, including free webinars on healthcare transitions and patient advocacy, an immersion program for medical school students, and psychosocial and case management support for folks living with the disease.

Kristina Burke

Who: Kristina Burke, local restaurateur, breast cancer survivor, and wife of Jim Burke, executive chef of Wm. Mulherin’s Sons. She founded TAG Time Happy Hour, a fundraiser event series for lung cancer research, after her husband’s stage IV lung cancer diagnosis last year.

Nonprofit of choice: Hospitality Assistance Response of Pennsylvania (HARP), which provides immediate emergency funding to hospitality workers and distributes one-time individual grants to frontline industry employees during unforeseen hardships.

Armenta Washington

Who: Armenta Washington, senior research coordinator for the community outreach and engagement program at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. In her role, Washington and her team created a drive-through Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) service into the community, so that at-risk individuals had access to preventative care and could determine if they needed a referral for a colonoscopy.

Nonprofit of choice: Frontline Dads, Inc. Since 2001, Frontline Dads has been empowering African American youth and young adults to become changemakers in their communities and providing them with the educational tools and general resources to do so. They have mentoring programs for at-risk youth and those in the juvenile justice system, as well as parenting workshops and re-entry training support for returning citizens.

Vote for the 2021 Health Hero Challenge winner now!