SPH: What drew you to apply to be the activist fellow at the Boston Public Health Commission’s (BPHC) Engagement Center?

I was a part of BU’s dual degree MSW/MPH program and had previously worked with an organization called Bay Cove for my social work clinical internship. I was a part of one of their small programs that was incredibly hands-on and helped around six individuals at a time who were suffering from homelessness. This experience was unique as I would follow an individual from intake to discharge and learn all the moving parts of supporting people who experience homelessness. I was able to gain a deep understanding of the homeless crisis that we see in Boston and around the country. It allowed me to see that the issue of homelessness is incredibly intersectional and overlaps with factors such as substance use, poverty, and marginalization. That internship sparked my interest in homelessness and made me want to learn how to engage at the systemic level to identify the root causes of these issues. The Activist Fellowship at the Engagement Center was my opportunity to do that work.

SPH: What was your role during your time at  BPHC’s Engagement Center throughout the fellowship?

When I started at BPHC’s Engagement Center, they told me that they aimed to expand the program at their shelter. Their main goal at that time was to understand if the programs and policies they had in place were working effectively in order to move towards offering more services. They wanted to see how their target population felt about all the shelter’s services. Due to the expansion, it was the perfect time to ensure that the policies and programs in place were working well as they moved into a larger program. My focus was to understand what worked for each individual at the center and look at what we could do to enhance their services. The second part of my role was behind the scenes working with staff members to understand how they felt about their demanding roles. I tried to figure out whether or not staff members were feeling supported. One of my goals was to understand if the responsibility of “self-care” was pushed on each individual or provided equitably to all of the staff. One huge thing I learned is how staff members’ health and wellbeing impacts the services they provide, which then directly impacts the individuals in the program. All their work at the center has to be holistic, and everyone needs to be involved; all stakeholders’ voices matter.

SPH: Why is this project important? How does it impact health?

If COVID has taught us anything, it is that our public health system is failing us in many ways. We have seen every state in the country struggle in different ways, and the homeless population became apparent as one of these critically vulnerable populations that we need to work to protect. When we think about the intersectional identities that many homeless folks face, we see how easy it can be for this vulnerable population to sort of fall through the cracks of our healthcare systems. With homelessness comes so many adversities. We have the resources, and it comes down to how efficiently we are using those resources. We need to move forward with solutions. These solutions shouldn’t come from upstream but from people whose lived experiences will enhance any proposed changes. The change has to come from individuals who are suffering from these issues. As practitioners, we need to ensure we are taking the time to ask vulnerable populations what they need from us before we implement solutions. This work must be a partnership between vulnerable populations and us. The issue of homelessness is a public health crisis that will only continue to increase as we move out of COVID. Our job is to be more vigilant than ever, conduct harm reduction, and be ready with everything we have to tackle this issue. There has already been so much harm done to these communities, and we are privileged to be a part of this work. As public health practitioners, I believe we need to work together to tackle this crisis. 

SPH: What advice would you give the next set of Activist Fellows?

I would say keep an open mind. You are going to learn so many different things that you honestly would not expect. It is also essential to be aware of your own biases. We all come with our own belief system, values, ideologies, we live in a patriarchal society, and there are influences of all that in what we do. However, we are here because we care, so it is our job to check out biases at the door. This work is truly so empowering and enriching if we allow it to be. You have to continue pushing and doing the work, even though it will not always be easy to advocate for yourself and others, but the point is to continue.

SPH:
What was the most important thing you learned from this experience?

Being very aware of my own biases is something I really had to learn during my time as a fellow. I had to recognize that I was an outsider. The people at the Engagement Center (individuals in the program and care providers) are the ones doing this work and are the experts here. I was a fellow coming in from BUSPH, and I realized that I had to be incredibly transparent and honest about who I was and what my role was. It was a lot of intense work, but it helped me understand many aspects of the system that I will take with me for the rest of my public health practice. I also learned that words such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion have become buzzwords that people and organizations throw around without any real context of what that means at the systemic level. We can hire as many people of color as we want to, but if we are not inclusive, if we are not allowing their voices to matter in a room full of white people equally, it truly doesn’t make any difference. We will just get more people working for the same broken system of oppression.

SPH: Where do you see yourself next?

I am currently working at Suffolk University, providing holistic support to students which ranges from food crisis to overall mental well-being. This work is extremely rewarding because it aligns with my passion to improve holistic health, especially mental health in higher-ed along with increasing diversity and inclusion within academic institutions. I am also a Mental Health Clinician at Revive Counseling and Wellness Center, founded by an incredible woman of color, where I get to work one on one with individuals and collaborate to improve their health and wellbeing. Since my focus has become extremely holistic, I am working hard to ensure that everything I am looking at is at an ecosystem level. As I continue to grow professionally, I see myself becoming more involved in macro public health work to create systematic changes by utilizing both my clinical and non-clinical skills.