Member Profiles: Bronx Health REACH Program Assistant

This year, the IFH Healthcorps team has 17 full time members! Every month we will be profiling one or two so you can get a chance to meet our crew and learn more about their work!

This month: Meet Hardeep!



Name:
Hardeep

Position:
Bronx Health REACH Project Assistant

Brief bio:
Born in New Jersey and raised in a suburb outside of New York City. I received my Bachelors of Science from Cornell University in 2011. I majored in Biological Sciences and minored in Global Health.

What is your hometown?
Rockland County, NY

For those in NYC: What is the best part about living in NYC? What is your favorite place in the city?
The best thing about living/working in New York City is observing the timeless beauty of the infrastructure and experiencing the rich diversity of cultures. Even though many NYC buildings were built over 50 to 100 years ago, the beauty of such landmarks truly persists alongside the magnificent and eco-friendly newly-built buildings that also contribute to same NYC skyline. The number of cultures represented in NYC is truly amazing. It seems to me as if every culture around the world has its own restaurant dedicated to it in NYC.

Where do you work and what kind of tasks do you do each day?
I primarily work at the Sidney Hillman Family Clinic building, a block away from Union Square, Manhattan. Yet, on a weekly basis, I outreach to different areas of NYC and engage community based organizations, advocacy groups, academic institutions, senior centers, etc about health disparities. A lot of what I do is community education and organizing around issues of racial and ethnic disparities in health.

What is your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of my job is community outreach. Outreaching to the five boroughs of NYC and being able to observe the blatant and subtle environmental, socio-economical, and cultural difference between and within boroughs has truly been a learning experience to say the least.

What is the most difficult part of what you do?
The most difficult part of my job is navigating the bureaucracy within the organizations that I outreach to. It takes patience and persistence in following up with these organizations. The end goal of Bronx Health REACH’s community outreach is to establish a relationship with outreached organizations and eventually having these organizations join our coalition on eliminating health disparities.

Why do you enjoy being a healthcorps member?
I enjoy being a healthcorps member because I am finally out in the community gaining the real- life experience of situations and issues that I learned about in the classroom. I couldn’t truly understand health issues such as the lack of health care access, racial and ethnic discrimination in health, and the rising cost of healthcare, until I was able to get into the community and see those issues at play in my position as a healthcorps member. Additionally, the healthcorps position at Institute for Family Health (IFH) is great. At IFH, there are over 15 other diverse and friendly healthcorps members who can help you adjust to your position, cope with stresses of moving to NYC, or simply hang out with.

What are your future career goals?
I hope to become a physician who travels the world providing medical aid.

MLK Day of Service

Every year the Community Healthcorps team at IFH is sure to make MLK Day a day of service. In the past we have often teamed up with City Year to do some colorful painting projects at local schools.

This year we teamed up with New York City Coalition Against Hunger to spread the word to our local communities about the food stamp and WIC programs. These programs are so important to make it easier for folks to get the food they need. In 2009, over 55% of local food pantries didn't have enough food to meet the need. According to NYCAH, nationally, only 66 percent of people who are income-eligible for food stamps receive them. In New York City, roughly 700,000 people are eligible to receive food stamps but don't get them. There is clearly a huge need to get the word out about the program!

Our group was sent to grocery stores accross Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Although it was chilly, members succeeeded in getting many families and individuals screened for food benefits that might not otherwise have known about the program.


Our group that helped out in the Bronx.

If you'd like to learn more about hunger and NYC, be sure to check out NYCCAH's website for loads of resources and ways to help!