THE WOMEN'S ISSUE
in labor, adults and children, and people in need of end-of-life care. Dividing her time between UNC’s Department of Family Medicine and the maternity care center means that each day of the week looks different for Dana. It’s a balancing act to juggle meetings on Mondays, teach medical students on Tuesdays, organize staff and policies on Wednesdays and go back to practicing medicine by Thursday or Friday, but “the biggest thing that makes it worth it is to know that I’m making a difference in someone’s life by seeing them in a clinic,” Dana says. “But it’s even more rewarding to influence others, whether it’s teaching doctors or residents in training, being a role model to others or being able to influence the system [administratively] for important change.” Dana’s passion doesn’t come as a surprise to her close friends, especially Monika Trogdon, a nurse practitioner who says Dana is always looking for ways to help others. “She’s bighearted, compassionate and strong-willed,” says Monika, who met and befriended Dana at Refuge Home Church 13 years ago. “She exudes strength and has a center of calm and steadiness that I’m sure helps patients as well.” Dana knew in the first grade she wanted to be a doctor. Her advice to aspiring medical professionals is to “work hard at the things you do, do the things you love and remember those two things may not be the same.” – by Janet Alsas
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
APRIL / MAY 2021
MOYA HALLSTEIN, DANIELLE MCCOMAS, ANGELINA KOULIZAKISBATTISTE & SARAH SLIGH
FOUNDERS OF ROBIN HOOD’S KITCHEN
M
oya Hallstein stared at an escarole
with one prevailing thought – “What is this?” She could tell from looking at Danielle McComas’ face that she wasn’t alone in her confusion. “I don’t even know how to eat this,” Moya remembers thinking. Moya sells produce for In Good Heart Farm and became good friends with
Danielle, who volunteers at Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA), through the Pittsboro Farmers Market. They were unsure how to use the farm’s leafy greens, which typically ended up trashed or composted. Yet neither could shake the feeling that, in someone else’s hands, maybe something special could come from these garden-variety afterthoughts. The epiphany was simple – soup. “What do you do with weird vegetables … or ugly vegetables?” Moya