Humans of NHC: Meet Imani Campbell-Dunn from Curry Senior Center!

Imani Campbell-Dunn (she/her) is currently a Wellness Programs Coordinator for Curry Senior Center and supports one of the NHC SF members in the service they do. We are grateful for her support this past year! See below for the full text of our interview with her.

Q: What does a day in the life of your job look like?

I: In my role, I outreach to clients about our food program and handing out food vouchers, and input in our database for data collection. I also create flyers and promote upcoming events/classes for our clients. We are preparing a fundraising website for Curry Senior Center’s 50th anniversary for this coming September.

Q: What initially interested you about your career path/profession?

I: Public Health interested me because it is so broad that I could do anything I wanted. Public health is so interesting because it really focuses on the people and how much they are affected by social barriers, racism, sexism etc. and ways we can improve the quality of life for the people.

Q: What/who inspires you? Why?

I: The people who constantly put their bodies on the front line for us to receive access to healthcare, equality, civil rights, etc. These people inspire me because it reminds me that although this work can be tiring, they continue to keep going because this work truly serves themselves and not just the client or the people.

Q: What was the moment that you realized this profession was for you?

I: I realized this path was for me when I was in a health class and was able to use real life situations as examples in class discussions. Connecting the dots to real life situations helped me further my understanding and made me realize there was so much I could do in this field. While creating improvements/solutions in my research paper, I was having fun finding solutions to issues in public health, which made me want to continue my public health journey.

Q: What was one of the more discouraging moments that you can remember? How did you persevere through this situation?

I: I was working at a COVID clinic in Oakland as an AmeriCorps [member] and I had to ask folks about colon cancer screenings. When I asked this person about it, they rudely responded and said other things I didn't appreciate. I had to remove myself from the situation and did not interact with that patient anymore. In this work, I realized I can't take things personally, that person may not have [had] a good day.

Q: What advice do you have for people our age just beginning their journey towards their career?

I: Take your time, do not rush. You still have time, you will figure it out, if you are still unsure. If your gut is telling you a job is not for you, trust it! Do not stay at a job longer than you need to. It's not where you start, but where you end up.