Healthy Futures, AmeriCorps: "Growing Our Way to Health" - LifeLong Medical Care's Community HealthCorps Program
LifeLong Medical Care is a non-profit community health center that provides high-quality health and social services for individuals with limited income, as well as those who face significant barriers to attaining better health, with a positive, caring environment. Our organization is comprised of 10 primary care medical clinics, two dental clinics, one adult day health center, and a supportive housing program, all located across Alameda, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties of Northern California. Our core mission is to provide high quality health and social services to underserved people of all ages; to create models of care for the elderly, people with disabilities, and families; and to advocate for continuous improvements in the health of our communities.
Founded in 1995 by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Community HealthCorps is the largest health-focused, national AmeriCorps program that promotes health care for America’s underserved, while developing tomorrow’s health care workforce. In the past 13 years, LifeLong Medical Care has participated in the Community HealthCorps program as a community-based clinic consortium.
LifeLong Medical Care’s dedicated team of 15 Community HealthCorps Navigators coordinated a large-scale service project for AmeriCorps Week 2013 from March 9-17, 2013. This project took place in the heart of our East Oakland community at our LifeLong East Oakland health center, located at the Foothill Square on 10700 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland.
Our Community HealthCorps team successfully implemented two projects to meet the highest needs of our underserved residents: Building a Community Wellness Center and Rooftop Garden. The projects’ goals were:
• To offer programs and services emphasizing awareness, prevention, and healthy behaviors; • To foster a safe community environment supportive of diverse personal values and wellness needs; • To increase access to fresh, local organic foods, environmental awareness, and community empowerment.
As of today, our Wellness Center and Rooftop garden served over 500 patients! The following services have been introduced and expanded: Free Veggie Give-away, Hypertension/Stress Management Group, Yoga Group, Smoking Cessation, Cooking Group, Walking Group, Diabetes Self-Care Group, Back Pain Group. LifeLong strongly believes that this project has improved and will continue improving access to primary and preventive health care for underserved communities served by CNCS-supported programs such as Community HealthCorps.
This AmeriCorps Week project was a true grassroots endeavor. Many thanks to LifeLong Medical Care's Leadership, NACHC, our neighboring AmeriCorps team, the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium (SFCCC) Community HealthCorps program, and of course, to our highly dedicated and compassionate LifeLong Community HealthCorps team:
Anjelica Mendoza Annie Xu Caitlin Dunn Henry Duran Luis Renteria Maria Chow Marikah Davin Mark Esguerra Maryam Zafer Matthew Crimp Nathan Yang Nicole Gordon Rita Chang Ryan Gabriel Vanessa Gutierrez*
*2nd Year Community HealthCorps Navigator
Thank you for your support!
4 comments
Joe Lee • almost 13 years ago
I am extremely grateful and humbled to have supervised my 2012-2013 Community HealthCorps team. My Navigators served over 12,500 patients throughout their 10 months of service. Their dedication has been so inspiring to me and all of our LifeLong Medical Care staff members. Many are moving on to work full-time in healthcare or to attend graduate/medical school. I have so much faith in my team becoming great social workers, doctors, etc. THANK YOU, TEAM! You guys are the best. Thank you for everything.
Matthew Crimp • almost 13 years ago
I had the privilege of being part of this team and this service project last year, and was continually inspired by my team members' drive, selfless attitude, and focus on results. AmeriCorps often gets a bad rap for completing one-time projects that no one uses or have no institutional support. As a Community HealthCorps member working in East Oakland and seeing the need there, I have been continually impressed by the level to which the Wellness Center and the rooftop garden have started to be used already. From community-fitness classes and diabetes education groups in the Center to providing a positive, safe space for reflection and relaxation in the garden, this project is being utilized to its fullest potential. It makes me incredibly proud to say that I am a member of this team.
Anjelica Mendoza • almost 13 years ago
As a member of the LifeLong Community HealthCorps 2012-2013 team, it makes me proud to look back on this project and know that we made a difference. The Wellness Center, a hole left by an Adult Day Health Center that vacated the area before our service began, has become an inviting space for patients. I believe that attendance for on-going groups has risen after our service project as patients feel more comfortable and at home. The Rooftop Garden brought out the green thumb and construction talents that we never knew we had before. Building from literally the ground up, we now have a garden of herbs, vegetables, and fruits, and a space for patients to learn to grow their own food.
I am grateful for the collaboration with the SFCCC Community HealthCorps team. We probably would not have been able to get this project completed or even have the confidence to get the project started in the first place without their contributions.
Additional appreciation and recognition goes to our East Oakland navigators Ryan, Nicole and Nathan for spearheading the project and proposing the idea to our team. Without their persistence and meticulous proposal, the Wellness Center and Rooftop Garden would still be empty, dull spaces.
GREAT WORK TEAM!!
YamYam Zephyr • almost 13 years ago
Also as a member of the LMC HealthCorps that undertook this project, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment looking back at the difference we made in the East Oakland community health center. I was at our Wellness Center a few times when patients stopped by to look at the renovations or admire the Roving Art Show pieces we installed. The patients all commented on how different the space looked or which wall color they liked the best. I could tell that they took pride in the project their clinic had initiated to create a better patient experience. I could tell that the patients felt taken care of. Interactions with patients, service alongside my dedicated team and the tangible impact we had all contributed to how rewarding I found this experience.