Hands on Deck: Martha Zambrano
For the first time this year, The Floating Hospital asked its staff to come up with a t-shirt design for the annual summer picnic and Employee Appreciation Day. A special t-shirt for the staff has been designed every year for decades, starting with Dental Manager Ernesto Hart, and more recently helmed by our design team.
Chosen from a variety of inspired submissions on the theme “All of Us, Together,” Martha Zambrano’s entry earned top prize. In addition to a $100 gift card, her design was on all of the t-shirts worn at the picnic in July. It was printed on several different colored shirts, which were randomly assigned to staff to form teams for a series of bonding games.
Zambrano, an online referral specialist in the department of family temporary housing, does not have an educational background in art or design, “but I am always doing something. I love painting, paper crafts, crocheting and photography. I am part of the Needle Craft Group at my church. I love to learn new things related to crafts and art.”
She added that her first thought when she saw the email regarding the contest was, “I had to do it! I like everything related to art and crafts. Honestly, I never thought I would be the winner. I just wanted to try!”
She found the theme “All of Us Together,” particularly inspiring. “It reminds me of my first day of work at The Floating Hospital. Everyone was happy , kind and welcoming. I had a feeling that this organization had a very good energy,” she said. When creating the logo, she “thought about the hands of all of us forming the ship's rudder and obviously ‘better together’ to steer the ship.”
At the Department of Outreach-Families in Temporary Housing, she said “we are the first contact with new patients.” Her job entails “processing the online and phone referrals from the city’s Department of Homeless Services, Domestic Violence and Supportive Housing shelters from all five New York City boroughs.”
They aid families in gathering the information we need to serve them to have them registered and arranging for their transportation to the clinic. They work with several departments as well as shelter case managers and directly with our patients.
“I always feel proud to be a part of one of the most iconic hospitals with such an important mission,” she said.