Member Spotlight: Alicia Seggelink at Sulzbacher- Beaches Community Healthcare Location

Name: Alicia Seggelink
Position: Patient Advocate at Sulzbacher – Beaches Community Healthcare Location
Undergraduate Degree: Biochemistry and Spanish from Allegheny College, Meadville, PA
Hometown: Little Chute, WI
Currently Reading: Middlemarch by George Eliot

Whether you are someone who considers the glass to be half full or half empty, no optimist or pessimist can deny that this service term is half over for us. By this time, we have all really hit our stride here at our host sites, and I am excited to say that everything is going smoothly at the Sulzbacher Center-Beaches Community Healthcare location. Duval County has the sixth largest uninsured population in Florida, with 20% of the county residents having no health insurance coverage. Homeless and transitional residents are acutely at risk of going for years without medical care. The patients of the Sulzbacher center can now address health problems that may have or will develop into serious illness. Chronic diseases of the heart, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, are rampant in the homeless community. The medical services of the two Sulzbacher clinics are designed as part of a community-wide “safety net” of health care providing primary and preventive care to the underserved population.

Member Spotlight: Anneke Demmink

Name: Anneke Demmink

Position: Clinical Health Educator

Degree: Psychology and Sociology from UNC

Hometown: Roaring Gap, NC

Favorite part of Jacksonville:  Living in the Riverside area

Currently working on:  Applications to graduate school programs for my Masters in Public Health.

I am currently serving as an AmeriCorps member with the North Florida Health Corps. As a Clinical Health Educator with the Maternal and Child Health Division of the Duval County Health Department, I provide education about reproductive and sexual health topics and family planning services to the community of Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to health education, I conducted pre- and post-test counseling for HIV screenings. My services are split between Jacksonville Job Corps, a federally funded vocational program for youth, and the Rainbow Center at Shands Hospital which is primarily a clinic for HIV positive individuals.
During the first four months of my service term I have accomplished a great deal. These accomplishments include personal growth, as well as the growth of knowledge within the community I am serving as a result of my health education efforts. I strongly believe that I am learning as much from this experience as my clients are learning from their sessions with me. I am gaining invaluable perspective and insights from the conversations and opportunities I get to participate in as a part of my AmeriCorps service.  I am more culturally aware and informed than I have ever been. In addition, my communication skills have vastly improved as well as my sensitivity to health topics. Perhaps the most beneficial of all, is my increased awareness of the type of health issues the underserved community of Jacksonville faces everyday.

Anneke demonstrates how to properly use a condom.

The community of Jacksonville is a special one.  Many of its youth are eager to learn and better their own lives given the knowledge and appropriate tools to do so. Thus has been my experience serving at Jacksonville Job Corps.  The students that attend Job Corps are there for one reason: To gain the skills and certifications that will make them more employable and able to succeed in the workforce. A large number of these youth never finished high school and will be working towards achieving their GED as well as other certifications such as Certified Nurse Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Computer Science Technician, and more. In my experience, many these students are not only eager to become more employable, but they are also ready to take responsibility for their health and well-being.  This is an important step in bettering their own lives that will have a lasting impact on their future.
For many of these students, I am the first person to have an open and honest conversation with them about sexual and reproductive health. I take great pride in knowing that I am giving these students information that will encourage them to make decisions in such a way that promotes a safe and healthy sexual experience. It is difficult to expect people to behave in health conscious and responsible ways without providing them adequate information and knowledge to do so. I consider myself lucky enough to be one of the people helping to spread this knowledge that can directly improve the well-being and health of the Jacksonville community. It’s inspiring how receptive my clients are to the information I provide them. Their positive responses and feedback give me direct proof that what I am doing is making a difference. There’s nothing more satisfying or encouraging as that.

Member Spotlight: Camille Brockett at the Arc

Name: Camille Brockett

Position: Wellness Coordinator at the Arc Jacksonville Downtown

Degree: Graphic Design and Communication from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA

Hometown: Ridgecrest, CA

Favorite part of Jacksonville: All of the fun and free activities like the Art Walks and Riverside Arts Market and the many thrift stores!

Currently reading:  GRE study books

I am three and a half months into my service term and I couldn’t feel more at home at my host site. Serving at the Arc Jacksonville Downtown is a fun, challenging and rewarding experience because I serve a great population. As a Wellness Coordinator, I teach adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities about nutrition and exercise. Each day I educate twenty students about healthy eating and fun ways to get moving. Not only do I teach my students, but I offer programs to all Arc participants including Walk-A-Mile Wednesday and help plan healthy activities for Arc events.

            The Arc’s mission is “to provide advocacy and quality services that enable people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve their full potential, enhance their full potential, enhance their quality of life and be active participants in their communities.” I educate my clients to achieve their full potential and enhance their quality of life by giving them the tools to lead healthy lives. Unfortunately people with disabilities experience health disparities when compared to the general population including high rates of emergency room visits, high rates of debilitating conditions that can be prevented, and lower rates of formal education, physical activity and social participation.

            Promoting health and wellness is part of the mission of the National Health Corps, and I do just that every day to a population that needs it I am able to plan my own creative curriculum in order to meet my clients’ various levels of understanding. We’ve learned the Thriller dance for exercise during Halloween, had hands-on cooking classes for all five food groups and are currently learning our new holiday dance.  Many of my students have a new found love for vegetables such as asparagus and brussel sprouts as a result of one of our cooking classes. 

            Despite serving at the Arc just a short time, my students have welcomed me with open arms and we enjoy our time learning and exercising together.  I couldn’t be more happy with my experience thus far in the North Florida Health Corps so far and am excited to see what adventures the remainder of our term will bring!