San Francisco

H EALTH C ORPS
Issue 2 | April 2012

C OMMUNITY

Reaching Out...

AmeriCorps - Out of the Clinic & Into the Community to

Photos: (Top) GKSD Team Day, (Bottom, Left) AmeriCorps Week, (Bottom, Right) MLK Service Day

Serve and Empower

SOS needs Volunteers! -Every Monday in April 1:00-5:00pm -4/17 1:00-5:00 pm -4/26 9:00-11:00, 12:00-2:00 VET SOS Clinic on 4/20 at the Homeless Youth Alliance discussion on pet Pot Toxicity, all welcome to join!

Announcements

Getting Things Done

Issue 2 | April 2012

On January 16 2012, the members of the San Francisco Community Health Corps program, along with thousands across the country, set out to participate in the National Day of Service. For our project, we decided to help clean Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Excited to begin, we lined up for our buckets and gloves, racing out to get the first bits of trash. Ocean beach wasnt particularly dirty, but it certainly wasnt clean. By the end of the morning, aside from the usual cans, glass, and miscellaneous fruit, we also picked up jeans, a t-shirt, some underwear, a strangely place bouquet of flowers, the remnants of a dead chicken, the remnants of a dead seagull, and a Christmas tree. It was a job well done for Health Corps members, but we couldnt have done it all by ourselves. The Ocean Beach clean up was open to the general public; anybody could come help clean the beach. That morning, walking along the beach in the sunshine seeing so many San Franciscan families making a day out of cleaning their beach was incredible. Families right and left were teaching their children and others the importance of maintaining a safe and clean community, a lesson not always taught. As an AmeriCorps member it was inspiring to see the people around me, on a perfectly good holiday morning, volunteering on their day off, and spreading the message of the importance of service to others in the community. Today, I took another look at the AmeriCorps Pledge. I began reflecting on my service term thus far, including my involvement in service projects with the greater San Francisco community and the various interactions I have had with others in the community. I now have a better understanding of what our examples mean to communities, reaffirming my commitment to the team and to my job because of the difference we all make, even small ones, in the community.

MLK Service Project th

-Bernadette Guirguis, VET SOS

Honduras: Mission Accomplished

"Life is for service" has been my mantra throughout my life, and what drove me to share my newly acquired medical expertise to care for the people of Honduras. This past March, I had the privilege of joining over 90 doctors, nurses, dentists, medical students and helpers and taking part in the 42nd HackettHemwall Foundation (HHF) to provide medical care to the people of Honduras. The primary focus of the treatment of the trip is prolotherapy, a type of nonsurgical ligament reconstruction that involves injecting a dextrose solution into a joint causing chronic pain. From mixing dextrose solutions, setting up nurses stations and completing medical translation when needed, I had the combined privilege of learning about an evolving pain management therapy and getting to alleviate the pain of some of the most medically underserved people. Although it was challenging leaving Native American Health Center for two weeks, I can't imagine a better year to have taken this medical volunteer trip. Every day I am immersed in the Spanish-speaking healthcare world in San Francisco, and the ability to connect, linguistically and culturally, with the impoverished yet dignified Honduran people in their native land was truly humbling. Furthermore, to be able to share my experiences in Community HealthCorps with other healthcare professionals around the world and listen to their medical journeys felt like the true culmination of this year of service. Although I'm still unsure of what I'll be when I grow up, this trip and this year have taught me that it will most certainly involve service towards others within the healthcare field.

- Jesse Harrison Noonan , Native American Health Center

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Getting Things Done

Issue 2 | April 2012

On February 3rd and 9th, 2012, the San Francisco Department of Public Healths Child Health and Disability Prevention program (CHDP), together with the SF Dental Hygiene Society, kicked off National Childrens Dental Health Month by hosting the fourth annual Give Kids a Smile Day events at the Southeast Health Center and San Francisco General Hospital. These events combined community outreach, health education, and delivery of health services into two fun activity-filled days for children, while also introducing their families to their local dental clinics and resources. The events were a huge success; in these two days, our team was able to provide 180 children and families (59 at Southeast Health Center and 121 at San Francisco General Hospital) with free dental exams, cleanings, fluoride, oral health education and guidance in establishing a dental home. The dental services provided by the dental hygienists and other volunteers have helped to protect the childrens oral health and allowed them to show off their healthy smiles! In addition, 100 children and their families (37 at Southeast Health Center and 63 at San Francisco General Hospital) have been connected to a dental provider in their neighborhood, an important step towards eliminating health disparities in our city. AmeriCorps members from the San Francisco Community HealthCorps played an integral role in the Give Kids a Smile Day event at Southeast Health Center. After their exams, children and their parents were guided to the education room, where they learned about tooth decay and nutrition, played games, and won prizes and healthy snacks. AmeriCorps members used large tooth models to show kids and their parents how to brush their teeth, and put pieces of chalk in cups of vinegar to demonstrate the effects of acid on teeth. Some members lead a nutrition game to test kids knowledge about sugary foods, while others helped the children make their own crafts. At the end of their time in the education room, parents were encouraged by the AmeriCorps volunteers to set specific goals to improve their childrens oral health, such as quitting the use of the bottle at night, brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, and reducing frequent snacking on sugary foods. Cynthia and T.C. want to personally thank all of the spectacular AmeriCorps volunteers who kept the kids smiling all day, while helping to prevent a lifetime of tooth decay for children in the Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood. We could not have done it without you! -

Give Kids a Smile Day 2012: A Huge Success Thanks to AmeriCorps Volunteers!

-Cynthia Huang and T.C. Robbins

-Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health-SFDPH

Each year, AmeriCorps volunteers dedicate a special week to celebrate their continued commitment to service and set aside time to special service projects. During our March AmeriCorps Week this year, we chose to visit two local schools to do outreach regarding the great service opportunities available through the Community HealthCorps program. Groups went to Stanford and San Francisco State to present to students about opportunities to gain experience in the community health field through service terms with AmeriCorps. The presentations targeted students with interests in pursuing careers in healthcare, public health, or social work. Nearing the end AmeriCorps week, we collaborated with LifeLong Medical Care HealthCorps members to direct a ribbon cutting ceremony for a community garden at a local middle school in East Oakland. We worked with the students, staff, and volunteers to put the finishing touches on the garden. After, we lead various educational activities for middle-schoolers! Wrapping up the week on Saturday, many members attended a press conference about AmeriCorps week of Service. Here current members and alumni discussed their experiences in HealthCorps and listened to an inspiring presentation from Jason Patnosh, the National Director of Community HealthCorps.

AmeriCorps Week!

-Emma Dobbins, SOS