Throughout My Undergraduate Journey At Morgan State University,

The African American Health coalition is a group under the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, newly redesigned as the Common Ground Health. Their focus is to create a community response that would eliminate health disparities that affect African Americans within the community (Common Ground Health). The creation of a coalition is due to a need for “different sectors of the community, state or nation” to join together “to create opportunities” to benefit all parties involved (Butterfoss, 157). As well the “strategies for addressing the initial problem” are not a one time solution, but are “sustained” over a long period of time (Korfmacher, 436). The African American Health coalition has done a considerable job at not only creating opportunities

Women's Suffrage Not for Ourselves Alone is a film based on the lives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the most important women of the nineteenth century worked against all odds for the rights of women. Admitting I was not familiar with Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, which to that I am extremely grateful that this course included women’s history in the curriculum. I served in the military which is a male dominated field and I can say with absolute certainty that the rights of women are still being oppressed. Many historians credit these remarkable women with the largest social transformation in United States history by paving the way to make the U.S a more democratic institution.

A skilled program developer and grant writer with a wealth of experience in the health and human services sector, Robert Whirry currently owns and operates his own consulting firm in Los Angeles, California. In addition to developing/coordinating a number of multifaceted projects and serving as lead researcher/writer for various grant proposals, he has prepared multiple reports and monographs in conjunction with the San Francisco EMA HIV Services Planning Council and staff of HIV Health Services. Robert Whirry’s clients include dozens of prominent public and nonprofit organizations including the California HIV/AIDS Research Program, the University

Whitley, S. (2013). Changing Times in Rural America: Food Assistance and Food Insecurity in Food Deserts. Journal Of Family Social Work, 16(1), 36-52. doi:10.1080/10522158.2012.736080

College campuses have seen a rise, in the epidemic of Sexually transmitted diseases. Sexually transmitted diseases have quickly become a household name amongst Americans. The dangers and health issues related to acquiring a STD has been the reason why more attention has been brought to the STD epidemic. The reason for this attention is to hopefully, slow down the rate of STD’S amongst students. There is a very astonishing fact stated by the Agape Pregnancy Resource Center, “Nearly 80% percent of people that are infected with STD’s do not know it. ("Agape Pregnancy Resource Center") The use of condoms, knowing your status, and the practice of abstinence are very effective ways of avoiding contracting STD’s. If we do not make students

Each of the institutions selected have health centers located on the campuses. Jackson State, Tougaloo, and Alcorn all provide HIV/STD screening services at the health centers. The provision of these services indicates that the campuses are aware of the risk for their student population to be infected with either an STD or HIV; however, Tougaloo and Jackson State were founded from religious foundations and therefore may pose increased stigma for those infected with STDs and HIV.

This summer I had the opportunity to complete my practicum in Eugene, Oregon at HIV Alliance. The HIV Alliance is a passionate 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 1994, with a mission of both supporting and empowering people living with HIV and preventing new HIV infections. Initially the organization focused solely on Lane County, Oregon. However, over the years, the structure and funding around HIV changed. This change resulted in the expansion of services to include eleven counties in Oregon: Lane, Douglas, Josephine, Lake, Klamath, Jackson, Coos, Curry, Lincoln, Clatsop and Marion. HIV Alliance serves the community through a diverse spectrum of initiatives.

“To achieve the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States goal of reducing the number of persons who become infected with HIV, further improvements in the prevalence of behaviors that contribute to HIV infection among young persons are needed. Renewed educational efforts that reach all students before risk behaviors are initiated and that seek to delay the onset of sexual activity, increase condom use among students who are sexually active, and decrease injection drug use are warranted.” (p.

The rate of HIV/ Aids among HBCU campuses has risen tremendously over the years. Many adolescents do not acknowledge the risk and consequences of contracting HIV/AIDS. HIV has impacted the African American race extremely and affects the African American culture. The rate of HIV/ Aids had risen between the years of 1992 and 1999, due the expansion of the AIDS case definition in 1993, and as well as benefits from new combination drug therapies (Thompson- Robinson et al., 2005). African Americans also account for 50% of new HIV/ AIDS cases that are reported to the Center Of Disease Control and Prevention (Thomas et al., 2008). Many Historically Black Colleges are located within the south. There is also a higher risk obtaining HIV for young black people within the south. There are several reasons correlated around the spread of HIV among HBCU’s. Some examples include, same- sex sexual practices (MSM vs. MSW), irresponsible drinking and drug consumption, and unsafe sex practices. This paper will discuss and determine why programs should be implemented on HBCU campuses to decline the rate of HIV among the students.

“Let’s create an AIDS/HIV-free generation”, which is not only a slogan that was proposed by President Obama but also a goal that I would like to achieve on my future career path. My practicum project at the Department of Health and Human Services was to generate dataset of new AIDS/HIV cases in Houston/Harris area required by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and then to use ArcGIS software to make a map describing the new diagnosed in Houston area. The final products can be spatially lined to other sources to enhance understanding of social determinants of health affecting populations impacted by HIV. This practicum experience let me realize that AIDS spreads so quickly is because most people have insufficient knowledge or misconception about the disease and prevention. Becoming a pharmacist to provide prevention service and educate people to improve their health and wellbeing is how I want to reach the goal of creating an AIDS/HIV-free generation.

Addressing culturally enforced stigmas is a more difficult of a task. One approach to reduce the embarrassment and discrimination among students would be to implement peer health education. It has been shown that peer education “empower[s] students to help each other promote positive health beliefs and behaviors” (Sloane & Zimmer, 1993, p.241). Peer education programs can often reduce some of the stigma surrounding sexual behaviors and STDs. This is done by increasing the amount of understanding about these topics. By encouraging multiple women to speak, students can begin to understand that not only dirty, irresponsible individuals get STDs. Instead, it begins to humanize the afflicted population. These programs can act as a validation tool to assure afflicted women and educate uninfected women

Throughout my academic and professional career, I have developed skills that would be beneficial as a Gates Foundation Fellow and support the global health work that the organization is implementing. By majoring in sociology and earning a Masters of Public Health degree, I am trained to analyze health care issues with a population and systems-level perspective which is essential in global health practice. Having the opportunity to work in Hawai’i where the ethnic make-up varies significantly from the continental U.S. has afforded me a glimpse into working on health policy issues aimed at different populations with different cultures and customs that impact their health behaviors. I have evolved existing and developed new analytical skills while working in an epidemiological function within a state department of health (DOH) and while working on health economic-related projects with the state’s DOH. Furthermore, I have developed and demonstrated leadership skills through my experience as a Gates Millennium Scholar and the president of the Hawai’i Chapter of the Gates Millennium Scholars Alumni Association.

The Let’s Be HIV Free: HIV Prevention campaign will implement a new policy among college campuses regarding the high human-immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence rates in the El Paso County area. The many college campuses in El Paso, Texas are comprised of more than 60,000 students, and provides a unique opportunity to prevent the transmission of this deadly disease. Under this new policy, students will undergo testing for HIV before being admitted into the campus, retest annually and partake in comprehensive HIV education training. Implementation of this policy is of great importance because students on college campuses are at a higher risk of contracting and spreading HIV.

The 2015 Statistical Analysis Poverty Level Data report shows in the United States, there was an increase in which families’ are able to provide food per person within their household. After the devastating financial and economic crisis in 2008, families have been in financial detriment for years trying to maintain consistency in providing food, support, and shelter. Not until the government 2015 report, there were clear evidence of a sufficient rise in food surplus in low income families since 2008. According to the governmental statistical report, 14% of households were suffering from food deficiency. In other words, 17.5 million households, approximate one out of every seven homes could not provide nourishment on a regular basis. This estimate is down from the last statistical data recorded in 2011 at 14.9%.

The personnel for this intervention will include a Project Manager/HIV-Prevention Coordinator, two clinicians (health workers), three peer educators, two counselors, and a consultant. The Coordinator/Project Manager, Alexis Wielunski, has a Masters of Public Health degree from San Jose State University. She is well knowledgeable on HIV prevention methods and also works full-time with San Francisco Department of Public Health. She has worked for the Berkeley Free Clinic for over 3 years and is passionate about health promotion and prevention. The two clinicians are nursing students from local universities, and they are expected to graduate as a registered nurse in the next 6 months. The peer educators are young individuals, some are college students, and some are not college students. These individuals are enthused and passionate about volunteering in their community. Selection of the peer educators is from individuals that have a health or social science background such as psychology majors, public health majors, and sociology majors. The