AmeriCorps Team Placements

2007-2008 AmeriCorps Placements: This year, the AmeriCorps team serves 12 agencies in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Children's National Medical Center (CNMC): The Burgess Clinic at CNMC provides medical, social, and mental health services to adolescents who are living with HIV, or at risk of infection. Team member Priya Puri serves as the Prevention Health Educator, providing HIV testing and counseling, facilitating several HIV community outreach and prevention programs focused on youth, and conducting workshops on making healthy choices about sex.

Priya: “Working at CNMC as a HIV tester and counselor, health educator, and tutor has given me the unique opportunity to approach prevention from different perspectives. Every day I am reminded that prevention is not simply about the facts, but it is about having self-respect, dreams for the future, and feeling empowered to make healthy choices. Building relationships with the youth that I work with has been incredibly insightful and has allowed me to see the unique challenges that young people face.” 

Food & Friends: Food & Friends provides nutritious, home-delivered meals, groceries, and nutritional counseling to individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses. Team member Jill Suzukida serves as the Client Enrichment Coordinator, conducting new client intake and meal delivery, organizing special projects such as the Holiday Gift Program and Annual Thanksgiving Day Feast, and coordinating recreational activities for clients and their families.

Jill: “I have truly enjoyed my time so far at Food & Friends, a nonprofit which delivers meals and provides nutritional counseling for clients living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses. One of my daily responsibilities includes making home visits to new clients, which has allowed me to put a face on HIV/AIDS by getting the opportunity to interact and see firsthand how people live and deal with the disease on a day-to-day basis and the effects on their families and close relationships. I'm continuing to learn a lot from people with backgrounds far different from mine, and have been amazed by their life experiences and attitudes.”

Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS): HIPS is a community-based organization whose mission is to assist individuals engaging in sex work in leading healthy lives by reducing risks associated with sex for gain, especially the risk of HIV/AIDS. Team member Nandini Ganesh serves as the Outreach Assistant, conducting outreach and education activities including running the mobile outreach van one weekend night a week, volunteer coordination, client trainings, and coordinating activities such as recruitment, curriculum development, and facilitating client group sessions for Safety Counts, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervention.

Nandini: "I went into my AmeriCorps year expecting that my time at HIPS would expose me to some particularly marginalized populations, allow me to build relationships with clients, and educate me about the general challenges faced by those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. What I did not expect, however, was the depth to which it would do so. My experiences with the staff and clients at HIPS have taught me distinctive skills and techniques to "assist" people as they work toward making their lives healthier. This empowerment approach was an unexpected, yet most appreciated gift. It taught me to serve others in an effective and sustainable way, and to preserve my own passion and dedication for such work in the face of numerous frustrations. I've learned to use this approach to have very real, very substantial conversations with clients, and to go well beyond "theory" to help clients explore options and alternatives that will be realistic in their lives on the streets."

Joseph’s House: Joseph’s House provides a home, nursing services, and community for formerly homeless men and women living with AIDS in metropolitan Washington, D.C. who are terminally ill and in the last weeks or months of their illness. Team member Joanie LaPorte serves as the Resident Advocate, providing social support and advocacy, assisting residents with daily living activities, and providing companionship to the residents.

Joanie: “Joseph's House is a beautiful place filled with compassion, justice, and a supportive community. It is an amazing privilege to be a part of and learn from this community. The majority of men and women who live at Joseph's House are formerly homeless and living with end stage AIDS. Being present with them as they transition through their illness has been a chance unlike any other to learn about myself and my relationship with the world. This place will change you -- it's lovely."

La Clinica del Pueblo: La Clinica del Pueblo is a nonprofit community clinic that provides free, comprehensive health, mental health, and social services to uninsured Latino immigrants in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Team member Carrie Wolfson serves as the HIV Prevention Health Educator, conducting HIV testing and counseling, coordinating community mobilizing activities, and other educational and outreach activities.

Carrie: “As an AmeriCorps member at La Clínica del Pueblo my work offers daily the opportunity to provide HIV services to immigrants who have struggled through civil war, left family behind, and who face a set of unique barriers to HIV prevention and care. This year I've found myself educating in parking lots and city streets, surrounded by day-laborers who hang on every lesson of HIV prevention and health care I have to offer. I have been privileged to listen to women who have not seen a doctor since childhood and who can barely write in Spanish let alone English. I have connected them not only to HIV care but to a community that shares their culture and values. While the job is challenging, it is shared by an energetic, supportive, and committed group of co-workers who teach me as much as my clients. I truly feel that my work with AmeriCorps has fostered not only far-reaching professional skills, but an irreplaceable cultural experience that would take years to build in any other setting. 

Metro TeenAIDS: Metro TeenAIDS is a community health organization dedicated to supporting young people in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Through education, support, and advocacy, Metro TeenAIDS prevents the spread of HIV, promotes responsible decision making, and improves the quality of life for young people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Team member Jason Sonnenschein serves as the Outreach and Education Specialist, facilitating a service provider coalition focused on young men who have sex with men of color and young transgender women of color, providing HIV testing and counseling, conducting educational presentations on HIV, facilitating a program at the youth drop in center, and conducting outreach.

Jason: “This program is the best introduction to the U.S. nonprofit public health sector that I can imagine. At Metro TeenAIDS, I have been taken in as an employee and given a wide range of responsibilities. From creating and implementing programs to managing peer educators, planning events to teaching in public schools, I have constantly been challenged and have pushed myself to provide D.C. youth with the information and skills they need to protect themselves from the dangers of unprotected sex. This has allowed me to build relationships with both youth and other youth-serving organizations. I have also had the opportunity to improve my skills outside the workplace, at trainings around the city ranging from youth development to HIV testing. And what better place to learn this field than Washington, D.C., a city with no shortage of culture, nonprofits, and problems to be solved.”

Miriam’s House: Miriam’s House is a residence for homeless women living with AIDS, including some who have children. The mission of the organization is to provide a dynamic residential community that empowers recovery from homelessness, disease, and addictions in an environment of compassion, integrity, and accountability. Team member Branden Comfort serves as the Health Department Assistant, helping the residents with daily living activities, providing transportation to healthcare appointments, and providing compassion and companionship to the residents.

Branden: “The first day I walked in the doors of Miriam’s House I was instantly greeted by several residents and staff members, ready and excited to welcome me into their community. It did not matter to them who I was or where I came from, they were going to welcome me in regardless. That philosophy of love and acceptance of all people embodies the mission of Miriam’s House. The residents of Miriam’s House come from difficult pasts; they are women who have been previously homeless, living with AIDS, and unfortunately many of them have had their friends and families give up on them. Miriam’s House is there to love them, care for them, and help them become a part of this wonderfully tight knit community. It is an environment where recovery from disease and addiction is possible. This placement has shown me what being a part of supportive and stable community can do for people and at Miriam’s House, the community instills a sense of faith in all things good, provides hope, and fosters unconditional love for all.”

Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry (NOVAM): NOVAM is a nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention and direct client services to the entire Northern Virginia area, with a special focus on the needs of young people at risk for HIV infection. The mission of NOVAM is to educate the community about HIV/AIDS; to combat the fear, prejudice, and complacency that surround the disease; and to provide direct services to meet the needs of those who are living with HIV/AIDS. Team member Lisa Oot serves as the Youth Prevention Specialist, providing HIV presentations and peer educator training to youth, conducting HIV testing and counseling, and outreach activities.

Lisa: “I absolutely love the work that I do. At NOVAM, my main goal is to reach out to young people, provide prevention education, and counseling and testing. I see such hope and inspiration in the youth of today and believe young people truly are the greatest advocates for change. My work with AmeriCorps has brought me face to face with the pandemic here in the United States. Although familiar with the face of AIDS in parts of Africa, I had yet to experience the suffering of those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in my own home town. AmeriCorps provided me with invaluable hands-on experience, and I have gained an education far beyond what any classroom can teach. The opportunity to work with AmeriCorps has only augmented my desire to work in the field of HIV/AIDS, especially in regards to working with young people and reproductive health. As corny as it sounds, I feel as if I do make a difference in people’s lives, and that alone is priceless.”

Our Place, DC: Our Place, DC supports women who are or have been in the criminal justice system by providing the resources they need to maintain connections with the community, resettle after incarceration, and reconcile with their families. Team member Frances Ford serves as the HIV Case Manager and Educator, providing case management services, training incarcerated women as HIV/AIDS peer educators, conducting HIV 101 education sessions, and providing HIV testing and counseling.

Frances: “It was my desire to help others that originally led me to AmeriCorps and Our Place, DC. Little did I know that my whole concept of “helping” would so radically change through this year’s experiences. Our Place, DC is a truly unique organization because it guides incarcerated women through their journey back into their community, one woman at a time. Our Place’s mission is based on the belief that everyone deserves a second chance and that everyone deserves help through that journey. Yet, at Our Place, DC, help is not about telling women what choices to make; help is about empowering each woman to make the choices that are best for her. During my year, I have been given the chance to be part this extraordinary mission through my work as an HIV Educator. I have made connections with some of the most amazing women I have ever met through facilitating HIV 101s at the drop-in center, teaching HIV education at a halfway house, and teaching a two-day HIV class in various federal prisons. This experience has given me the chance to better understand the close connection between incarceration and HIV. Perhaps more importantly, I have been given the chance to understand what it means to meet every person where they are, regardless of the journey they have taken. All of us, including myself, make choices and make mistakes. All of us deserve a place to go where people will support us, despite those choices and those mistakes. Our Place, DC is that supportive environment for incarcerated women, and I feel blessed I have had the opportunity to be a part of it.” 

Prevention Works!: Prevention Works is a nonprofit health agency dedicated to health promotion and disease prevention among drug users in the District of Columbia. Team member Rebekah Weil serves as the Harm Reduction Education and Outreach Worker, providing HIV counseling and testing, outreach, and education to at-risk individuals. During the week, Rebekah travels on the Prevention Works! outreach vehicle to provide needed services.

Rebekah: “Prevention Works allows me opportunities that I would never have otherwise. I go out into communities in or near drug strips in order to interact with and understand a truly marginalized and stigmatized segment of our population: intravenous drug users. I have learned an enormous amount about the difficulties and dangers facing drug users and their communities as well as the process of rehabilitation. Aside from syringe exchange, we provide confidential HIV testing and counseling, safer sex materials, referrals to drug treatment programs and medical services, food, and clothing to our participants. I am told daily that the services we provide save people’s lives and I have seen this to be true. This experience has taught me about human nature and the value of a nonjudgmental attitude in all facets of my life. I know that I am personally making a difference in people’s lives and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this community. I cannot express how much I respect and support the work that Prevention Works does in D.C. and I have had an extremely positive experience while working here.”

Whitman-Walker Clinic: Whitman-Walker Clinic is a nonprofit health organization providing comprehensive, accessible health care and community services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. Team member Allan Welter serves as the HIV/STI Risk Reduction Counselor, providing HIV testing and counseling, STI screening, and risk reduction counseling, along with conducting outreach activities.

Allan: “The opportunity to serve in Washington, D.C., the city with the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the country, has been incredible. Being placed at the Whitman-Walker Clinic has given me a view of public health that was only possible in a clinic that is dedicated to serving the underserved. My primary responsibilities have been HIV testing and counseling, STI screening, and risk reduction counseling. Through my clients, I am able to see how race, gender, sexual activities/preference, socioeconomic status, and all the other "isms" tie into disproportionate access to health. Gaining life experience in public health through Whitman-Walker has revolutionized my understanding of the intricate factors and facets associated with public health. My year in AmeriCorps will eventually come to an end, but my service is just beginning.”

Women’s Collective: The Women’s Collective, formed in 1993, is the only local AIDS service organization created by and for women living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS. The organization provides HIV care management services, HIV prevention services, and policy advocacy for diverse groups of women. Team member Chanelle Houston serves as the Prevention Project Associate, providing HIV testing, counseling, and referral services; conducting presentations and workshops for women on HIV prevention information and skills-building topics; and conducting outreach activities.

Chanelle: “My placement at the Women’s Collective this year has been both rewarding and challenging. Every day I look forward to coming into the Women’s Collective to serve black women that are disproportionately infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia. In-house, I perform HIV testing and counseling sessions, along with tutoring HIV+ women in order to obtain their GED. When I am not in the office, I offer HIV testing and counseling sessions on the mobile unit and conduct outreach & HIV education in targeted communities of D.C. While in the neighborhoods we serve, I am reminded that we live in a diverse world and that everyone has their own obstacles and challenges to overcome, along with thanks to give. This service year has been the utmost humbling experience I have ever had.”