‘I Support the Work of the Communities That Got Me to Where I Am Today’.

Jasmine Lee MPH, Spring 2021

Breakfast: Boiled eggs and a cup of tea

Hometown: Boston, MA

Extracurriculars: Drawing, painting, and riding my bike on a nice day

Jasmine is an MPH candidate focusing on Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation and Evaluation (CAPDIE). She is an Activist Bucks recipient and shared her experience with the program and the impact that COVID-19 had on her work.

What was your Activist Bucks project? Why did you choose to focus on this specific population? 

I worked with Rosie’s Place and the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) to sew and donate over 400 handmade face coverings as well as supply cleaning sanitizing wipes, portable hand sanitizers, and diapers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although issues of homelessness and domestic violence have existed for a very long time, the pandemic has exacerbated these issues disproportionately devastating Black women and women of color. This includes high mortality rates, lack of permanent housing, stay at home orders with abusive partners among many other intersecting issues. In addition, supplies have been difficult to obtain due to rising costs, high demand, and quarantine advisories limiting mobility to purchase supplies. Even before the pandemic, Rosie’s Place and ATASK have been at the forefront in dealing with these crises for over 30 years. Therefore, this project aims to support their critical work and provide necessary supplies where they serve these prioritized populations. By donating handmade face coverings and necessary supplies, I hope to support their work in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and its detrimental impact on the public health of these communities.

As a survivor of domestic violence and homelessness, I know firsthand how BIWOC survivors can be harmed by multiple crises. In the past, ATASK has also provided services for my family when we had nowhere to go. While seeking financial and housing stability, my mom worked multiple low-wage jobs, including being a sewer for a sweatshop factory. To this day, she still manages to use her strengths as a sewer to support our family and community. She makes and donates scarves to teachers, makes alterations, and so much more. While learning from her, I became an artist that combines creativity and social justice to support the work of my community. I work on public art projects to address issues including gentrification, housing, and job instability in Boston’s Chinatown. I looked at my mom’s sewing machine and knew I wanted to make face masks and work with local shelters that have supported my family and community. After learning more about the Activist Lab in PH718 Leadership and Management in Public Health course, I realized how their work aligned with this project idea. After emailing the Activist Lab, they guided me throughout the whole process of implementing this project.

What have you learned from working with your community partners? 

While working with Rosie’s Place and ATASK during this pandemic, I learned that they are truly the experts in dealing with multiple crises every single day. Rosie’s Place is the first women’s homeless shelter in the US. They have been supporting and working with predominantly Black, Latina, and Haitian women. ATASK is the first domestic violence shelter for Asian and Asian American women in Massachusetts. Both shelters provide many critical and holistic resources including emergency shelters and services, community resources, health resources, legal advocacy among many more services. They also empower survivors through art and public policy opportunities. Both shelters have been doing some of the most complex yet critical work for about decades with very limited resources. As anti-racist, intersectional public health work is being discussed during this time of crisis, I believe it’s important to credit, learn from, and redistribute power and resources to the very communities that have been doing this work – especially now.

How has being a part of the Activist Bucks program impacted your experience at BUSPH?

As a first-generation, low-income student of color at BUSPH, the Activist Bucks program gave me the opportunity to work with them in redistributing resources back to my community. I am currently in this new and complicated position while trying to navigate higher education and remain grounded in my community in Boston. In my CAPDIE courses, we often learn about the long and complex history between college institutions and BIPOC communities in Boston and how to begin the process of reparations. I believe being part of the Activist Bucks program showed me how this is possible. My Activist Bucks project allowed me to combine my strengths as an artist, community member, and public health student that is validating and supportive. Although there is still a lot more work that needs to be done, I believe the Activist Bucks program allowed me to use my privileges as a graduate student to support the work of the communities that got me to where I am today.

Do you have any advice for other students interested in Activist Bucks?

I hope more students will apply for the Activist Bucks program and continue supporting the long-time work of local, grassroots, BIPOC organizations in Boston and beyond. The Activist Lab was really supportive to me throughout the whole process. Although I didn’t know exactly all the details of this project in the beginning, the Activist Lab was able to guide me step by step in strengthening my idea, applying for the microgrant, creating a budget, and working with multiple community partners and individuals in implementing the project. I know applying for grants, in general, seems scary and difficult. The Activist Bucks program really provides a lot of support. Even if you don’t have a clue about what you want to do, the program has many community partners and a list of past projects that already exist.

So, apply!

– Emily Barbo