Getting things Done for Healthy Futures

With AmeriCorps Week 2014 coming to an end, it was amazing to see the large number of AmeriCorps Members getting so many things done for Philadelphia and the healthy futures of its residents.

The week kicked off with a fun Healthy Living Block Party in the North-Central Philadelphia community.  During this event, families received information about healthy lifestyles as well as fresh produce and healthy snacks; kids participated in fun activities; and health insurance enrollment help was even available to participants. Even with the Health Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment deadline looming, this did not stop AmeriCorps members, including some of my fellow PHC members, from continuing to “get things done” and help as many people as they could to get health insurance.

The rest of AmeriCorps week was filled with encouraging events which enabled AmeriCorps members from several different programs and organizations to come out and participate in events that recognized the impact AmeriCorps Members are making throughout the city of Philadelphia. At the 2nd Annual Mayor’s Day of Recognition for National Service, one of the highlights of AmeriCorps week, the Mayor took the time to thank AmeriCorps members for their service to the city, awarding and praising those who have exemplified distinguished National Service.  After the ceremony, my fellow Philadelphia Health Corps members and I even got the chance to meet Mayor Nutter! It was very exciting to get the chance to briefly talk to the mayor and highlight the ways in which PHC is helping to create healthy futures for the residents of his city.  We even were able to take a picture with the mayor as well!

While AmeriCorps Week highlights the successes of the city AmeriCorps Members, I have seen the importance of getting things done for the sake of healthy futures beyond this week throughout my service term at one of the city’s health clinics.  As a patient advocate, I serve 40-45 hours per week to ensure my patients are getting what they need from me; but it is always refreshing when I see them taking the lead towards a healthy future on their own.  In the fall, a patient met with me and expressed her need for assistance to get her health back on track first so that she would be better equipped to keep working towards her dream of opening a daycare center.  Months later, her daycare is now up and running! She got things done for herself and now she’s getting things done for the futures of the children in her daycare. Another patient I see getting things done for their healthy future is a middle-aged man currently studying to get into medical school, just like I am. Whenever he stops in, we encourage each other to stay strong with our studying (but only after we get all of our complaining out about MCAT physics first). Having special eye conditions, he needed our help in getting access to a couple of very expensive eye drops critical to his vision. To date, he has been one of the most driven self-advocates I’ve encountered at my health center.  I know he is proactive with maintaining his health so that he can better stay focused on his medical school goals.

Throughout the course of my service thus far, I have learned a lot from my patients.  Most important is the commitment to getting things done for your own healthy future first so that you will be better equipped to impact the healthy futures of those around you in the long run. Even though healthy futures month, as well as AmeriCorps Week, is wrapping up, my fellow Philadelphia Health Corps Members and I will keep getting things done for the healthy future of Philadelphia!
 

This post was written by PHC member Kerby Rauscher.
Kerby serves at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health - Ambulatory Health Services as a Patient Assistance Program Advocate.