Committees 101: Meet the Communications Committee

By now, you are quite familiar with the host site duties of a NFHC member.  What you may not know is that aside from our daily service at our host sites, NFHC members also serve on committees and training coalitions.  These additional components have made our service even more meaningful, so we wanted to share our experiences on our committees and coalitions with you.  First up in the Committees 101 series:  The Communications Committee.  Look out for upcoming posts on the Learning Series, Service Project, and Professional Development Committees!

Ariana Bentz Makes Sure Pregnant Women Get Their "Healthy Start"

“Pregnant?” I asked the man. “Is your wife pregnant?” He replied yes, and something about Medicaid, which was not uncommon, as I often assist pregnant women with their Medicaid for Pregnancy applications. I could tell right away that his wife would benefit from the Healthy Start program, which is a free and voluntary service in Florida to help women have and care for a healthy baby. Because of the extensive outreach I do in the community about the Healthy Start program, I often get phone calls of pregnant women who need assistance. But this phone call was different. In his broken English, he tried to explain more in depth about what he needed. I looked at the caller ID, and recognized his last name. I asked him, “Are you Burmese?” to which he said he was, and again that he needed help for his wife. I told him, in the way that I had learned to communicate with refugees who do not speak much English, that I used to serve at a Refugee and Immigrant Center, specifically with the Burmese population, and that I would be glad to help him and his wife.

It took us a few minutes, and many clarifications, but we decided to meet outside of a grocery store near his house, and he would bring his pregnant wife, who didn’t speak any English.

To prepare for the appointment, I gathered the regular healthy pregnancy information I give to all of my clients – information on healthy weight gain during pregnancy, how to reduce stress during pregnancy, counting kicks, baby spacing, family planning resources, safe sleep information and other flyers that pregnant women could look over to make sure they were prepared for their babies. In this packet, I decided to research and include a booklet on how to navigate your way through the American Health Care System as a refugee. Because of my previous service, I knew how confusing and frustrating it could be to try to receive services as a refugee. For refugees, not only is the language foreign, but so are the customs and procedures. Because of this, doing things such as scheduling a medical appointment, or even knowing how to get medical services can be really difficult. I was so happy to meet a refugee family again, and to use my previous knowledge and understanding of the refugee population to assist them in the best way I could.

When I arrived at the grocery store, I walked around the perimeter, trying to find the family. My favorite part of service is exactly this – meeting with pregnant women and educating them on healthy pregnancy topics such as childbirth, immunizations, SIDS prevention and breastfeeding.  After about ten minutes, I spotted a man and a child who also looked as if they were looking for someone. I called out the name the man had told me on the phone, and he came over to me. It was obvious to me that the wife was not there – and would not be coming. I was used to these misunderstandings, and decided to go through with the appointment anyway. I would not be able to enroll the pregnant wife into the Healthy Start program as she was not there, but at least I would be able to get across some information.

I gave the man the bag full of healthy pregnancy information and ways to navigate his way through the healthcare system as a refugee in America. Ten minutes into us talking, he pulled out an envelope, the back of which he had written a dozen phone numbers. I knew this drill – often, my refugee clients had come to appointments and asked for assistance calling back people who had called them and didn’t have the patience to slowly explain why they were calling. I ended up spending an hour and a half, standing outside of the grocery store, calling back Medicaid representatives and doctor’s offices, scheduling appointments, writing down full information, looking up with my iPhone the locations. I explained each situation, who was calling, what to do when they called next, and what questions he should ask to clarify when he did not understand. Even though it wasn’t part of my normal service routine, when I left the appointment, I knew that I had not only provided a family with more information about how to have a healthy baby, but directly assisted a family with receiving access to care.

When the refugee walked away after the appointment, he turned back and put his hands together and yelled loudly and with such passion, “God bless! God bless you!” That was a moment that I will never forget. 

Community Garden Build Service Project

Many neighborhoods in Jacksonville have little access to locally grown produce and other healthy food options.  One of the organizations working to remedy that is the Second Harvest Food Bank, an organization that distributes food and groceries to hungry people in North Florida and educates the public about the causes of and possible solutions to domestic hunger.  In March, members of the North Florida Health Corps volunteered with Second Harvest to help build a community garden in one of these low income neighborhoods with little access to good produce.  We built planter boxes, filled them with rich soil, and assembled irrigation systems as part of the project to create a large garden that can both supply the needs of the local community members who will work it and which will supply produce for Second Harvest's other nutritional outreach initiatives.  It was a beautiful Saturday morning, we accomplished a lot, and were happy to contribute to a great project that promotes both the health and involvement of the local community.

More information about Second Harvest Food Bank's community garden initiative can be found here.