My name is Kimberly Walker and I am a native of Meridian Mississippi. I joined the Community HealthCorps program in November, 2004 with the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association in Jackson, Mississippi, after hearing about the program from my mother, who works for the Primary Health Care. I was going through a difficult time in my life after witnessing the long suffering and death of my father to Lupus Nephritis. Becoming a member of this program has turned my life around, and gave me direction, and in turn I am able to help others.

Having seen first hand with my father’s illness, how important health care professionals can be to the patients they serve, as well as to the family members, it made me realize that I too, wanted to help people by serving in a health care field. During my first year with the program, I served at Family Health Care Clinic in Brandon, Mississippi, where I provided health education to community members about services offered at local health centers, information on preventive diseases and enrolling patients into Medicare part D.

One of my most memorable moments at Family Health Care Clinic occurred when an elderly couple came in to get fitted for diabetic shoes. The wife was upset because the husband was not taking care of himself and his health was deteriorating. She relayed to me that her husband was giving up and refused to continue his regiment of meds. While transporting her husband in the back to wait for the doctor, I took the opportunity to talk with him about his health and how his giving up would not only affect his life, but that of his family members who cared about him, especially his wife. Sometime later, the wife came back to the clinic and thanked me for helping him change his attitude and stated that he was now taking better care of his health needs. This is just one example of what makes serving in AmeriCorps so rewarding and important.

This year I serve at G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center in Canton, Mississippi. There, I assist social workers who counsel and assist patients with paperwork, schedule follow-up appointments, assist disabled patients as well as others and enroll them in the sliding fee scale programs.

I have always believed that what I did in service was important, but I did not realize how important it was until after the Hurricane Katrina Disaster. This experience has truly been one of the lowest points for our communities, but yet, it allowed our strongest points to come to surface and it has affected us in a way that is hard to imagine, and it continues to affect us. In the aftermath of the Hurricane, Mississippi Primary Health Care Association served as one of the many distribution points to assist Hurricane victims with basic supplies. Our team assisted in this effort by sorting goods and medical supplies to be shipped and distributed to victims. Items such as clothing, shoes, school supplies, and toiletries). We also carried supplies to a larger designated distribution site and were able to meet and talk first hand to some of the victims. Additionally, we assisted in directing them to other services available to them. Some of them voiced their frustration by having to go from one place to another for services and it was evident that they need to have someone hear their frustrations. Our team was proud to serve in this manner. We unloaded boxes from trucks, and placed flyers about the different services that were available to evacuees from the coast and tried to assist with whatever they needed.

It was a gratifying experience to visit the Mississippi Coliseum with my mother one weekend, as we volunteered to assist with the Gulf Coast and New Orleans evacuees. To sit and hear their stories of survival made me even more determined and thankful that I was able to give back in some small way and help someone. We transported a family to Wal-mart to help them get needed supplies to keep them from having to stand in long lines just for toiletries. Their gratitude for the assistance was overwhelming.

It is a very sad and awful situation and still hurts to see people who still need help and still don’t have basic needs. There are many health issues and mental issues as well that make the evacuees just look for someone, anyone who will listen to them. The impact is so overwhelming that at times I feel like I can only do so much as one person, but I know in my heart the best thing I can offer is to continue to listen and talk with our neighbors who have been displaced and assist them in getting the help they so desperately need. It is critical that all national service programs continue to support gulf coast residents in the recovery process. There is so much to get done and we need your support to allow us to stay until the job is done.

My experience in this program has been wonderful and I want to thank my mother for encouraging me to apply and my program coordinator Ms. Linda Young who has been a great supporter, not just as a supervisor, but also as a friend and continues to encourage me to strive for the best and support the community. Because of the program I am more determined to pursue a career in public health.

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