Hello everyone!
This week, the Rodham Institute connected me with an organization called Georgetown Ministry Center. The center serves people experiencing homelessness by providing hygiene services, meals, job support, and basic medical care. The shelter is not overnight; however it offers these individuals a safe space and a sense of community. I spent my entire week working at the center. I applied my lens of public health to everything I witnessed and learned at the center.
During my time at the center, I served food, cleaned the space, organized resources, and interacted with the individuals using the facility. By interacting with these same people on a daily basis, I was able to establish a rapport with some of them and hear their stories. Many of the individuals there experience or have experienced issues with drugs, mental illness, trauma, and instability growing up.
The motive in my volunteering through the Rodham Institute was not only to serve the city that I am learning about, but also to immerse myself in a setting that indicates the impacts of the social determinants of health. I found it particularly valuable to think about public health through this lens because it developed a context for my learning in the upcoming weeks of my internship. During my work this week, I was unable to take photos at my service site out of respect for the individuals using the facility.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to a farm in St. Micheals, Maryland. The area is very beautiful, and I have enjoyed spending my time in nature.
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