This post originally appeared on the White House Blog on July 25, 2012.
Sarah* had been living with HIV for 10 years when she discontinued her treatment. After witnessing a murder in her neighborhood, she was afraid to leave her house for care. She was isolated, suffering from post-traumatic stress, and had to cope without HIV treatment for more than three years.
A Positive Pathways Community Health Worker discovered Sarah's situation in July 2011 and reached out to her, calling her more than 10 times before she finally responded. With the support of the Health Worker and a medical case manager, Sarah began addressing her post-traumatic stress, secured safe and regular transportation to a treatment site, re-engaged in HIV care, and even received assistance with her housing needs.
Support from Within the Community
In Washington, DC, Community Health Workers are frontline support for hard-to-reach women suffering from untreated HIV and AIDS. Washington AIDS Partnership's innovative Positive Pathways program recruits Health Workers from the city's high-risk communities and trains them to help their neighbors overcome barriers to treatment.
Through the Community Health Worker network, Positive Pathways identifies out-of-care women, builds peer-based trust, teaches them about living with HIV, provides personalized assistance to help them navigate service systems, and supports them throughout the early part of their medical care until they become independently engaged.
Expanding Care to More People
Because of this innovative model for connecting with hard-to-reach women, the Washington AIDS Partnership received a $320,000 Social Innovation Fund grant through AIDS United in 2011. During the first eight months of implementation, the Washington AIDS Partnership contacted 2,367 individuals and enrolled 268 people who had been out of care. With additional funding from the Social Innovation Fund, the program aims to enroll 500 more people.
Nearly 14,500 people live with HIV or AIDS in Washington, DC. For almost half of these people—around 42 percent—there is no evidence that they are in care. Community Health Workers are making critical strides to enhance their health, quality and length of life, while also strengthening our collective efforts toward prevention.
*Sarah's name has been changed to protect her privacy.
Jonathan Greenblatt is Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.
This story highlights the work of the Social Innovation Fund, established by the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009 and administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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SIF   
Washington AIDS Partnership   
AIDS United   
Positive Pathways   
Healthy Futures   
Rising health care costs continue to hit extra hard for people with chronic illnesses who are uninsured or living on fixed incomes. Philadelphia Health Corps AmeriCorps members serve in the city's District Health Centers to help these patients gain access to medications through drug company prescription assistance programs.
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Health Corps   
Philadelphia   
AmeriCorps   
Awards   
Service Impact Awards   
Challenge   
Americans produce more food, eat more of it (check out our obesity rates), and waste more by sending it to landfills. Finding healthy, affordable food should not be a problem in the United States. But it is.
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United We Serve   
UWS   
Healthy Food   
Food Deserts   
Farmers Markets   
Obesity   
USDA   
SNAP   
LRLM   
Josh, 45, was one of the millions of Americans suffering from a mental illness, but he was not receiving treatment. He was unemployed and living in a halfway house, and he could hardly find the motivation to do the dishes or leave his room.
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SIF   
Mental Health   
Jobs   
Healthy Futures   
It's the time of year when parents worry about summer learning loss and getting the kids off the couch. Good news! There is a fun and free way to exercise a child's mind and body – your neighborhood playground.
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LRLM   
Summer   
Play   
KaBOOM!   
Playground   
Healthy Kids   
Exercise   
“We can re-build him. We have the technology.” Remember that classic opening line for the show The Six Million Dollar Man? A version of that line has been going through my head as we observe this year's World AIDS Day.
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AmeriCorps   
AIDS   
Health   
Though retired from the service for 14 years, 68 year-old veteran Larry Mills found he wasn't done serving. He answered this call by serving fellow veterans through the Senior Companion program, one of three Senior Corps programs at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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Veterans   
SeniorCorps   
SeniorCompanion   
Utah   
Seniors   
Health   
59-year-old Lillie Lanser is one of the millions of Americans affected by the economic downturn. She spent years as a legal secretary, but when she was laid off in 2009, Lanser realized that unemployment allowed her to pursue a new direction in her life – service. As a volunteer, she found a passion for giving back and created the Cancer Pilot Transport Program while an RSVP volunteer with Senior Corps.
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SeniorCorps   
RSVP   
Arizona   
Health   
PVSA   
Cancer   
   
Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy inspired a generation by asking Americans what they could do for their country. Today, as many in the baby boomer generation approach retirement age, they are still serving their country, enriching their own lives in the process.
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SeniorCorps   
SCWeek   
Volunteer   
Health   
Boomers,   
USDA data shows that only 2% of kids eat enough fruits and vegetables and 1 in 4 young adults are too overweight to qualify for military service. Statistics like these don't exactly paint a hopeful picture for the future. But a new national service organization, FoodCorps, has set out to change that.
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AmeriCorps   
HealthyFoods   
HealthyFutures   
FoodCorps   
Farms   
FarmtoSchool   
Wisconsin   
Gomperts   
ChildhoodObesity,   
Residents of Wolfe and Powell County in Kentucky have very limited access to primary care services, and long drives to access specialists who can meet their health needs. With its leveraged SIF funding from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, St. Joseph Health System is addressing this issue by establishing two virtual primary care delivery clinics to provide primary care services in these rural areas.
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Kentucky   
HealthyFutures   
HealthCare   
Nurses   
   
One of Cumberland Family Medical Center, Inc.'s satellite clinics is located in McCreary County, Kentucky. McCreary County is the 4th least healthy county in Kentucky, as ranked by the Kentucky Institute of Medicine, and is both a Medically Underserved and a Health Professional Shortage Area. As such, it embodies a “last mile” problem in access to health care services.
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Kentucky   
HealthyFutures   
HealthCare   
Nurses   
   
The Kentucky nonprofit, Home of the Innocents, provides dental services to children in state care, children with special health care needs, and other children and families served by the Home and its partner agencies.
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Kentucky   
HealthyFutures   
Dental   
SpecialNeeds   
   
Youth Service America and UnitedHealth Group are tackling childhood obesity from a new direction: by asking children and youth across America to take action and address this critical issue. The UnitedHealth HEROES Service-Learning Grants, launched two years ago to support youth-led programs, have supported the initiatives of more than 360 schools and community organizations. Asking young people to have a meaningful impact on communities by implementing innovative ideas is an important part of service-learning, a teaching and learning strategy that makes connections between community service and curriculum.
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LRLM   
HealthyFutures