A Volunteer Reflects on How Culmore Clinic Kept Her Going During The Pandemic and Beyond
Erica Harp started volunteering with Culmore Clinic as an intern right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit our area. She reflects on this experience in this guest blog. Enjoy!
I still vividly remember the first evening I walked into Culmore Clinic in January 2020. After having spent the previous academic semester studying public health and Spanish in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I was eager to utilize my improved Spanish fluency in the Northern Virginia area near George Mason University, where I was a junior studying global and community health at the time.
Parker Novak, a classmate and good friend, introduced me to The Clinic where she had been a long-standing volunteer. The Clinic was buzzing with chatter that winter evening as I sat down with co-founder Terry Lavoie to discuss potential volunteer opportunities. Her welcoming spirit and infectious enthusiasm for the mission and work of The Clinic immediately interested me – I knew I wanted to be a part of it all.
While I only spent a few months volunteering in-person before the COVID-19 pandemic upended The Clinic’s normal operations, I knew I wanted to stay involved. During the height of the pandemic, I interpreted medical reconciliation calls, answered calls from the main nursing line, and coordinated with providers and the administrative team to ensure patients were able to access their normal medication, stay healthy, and find timely testing and treatment for COVID-19 when needed.
During a time when I felt pretty hopeless and sad about the state of the world, volunteering from my bedroom in Fairfax gave me energy, provided me with connection to providers and patients, all while contributing to something meaningful.
This also served as an amazing experience to participate in public health in action. As COVID-19 vaccines rolled out in late 2020 and early 2021, I called in to weekly Fairfax County Public Health meetings along with many dedicated staff members from local clinics to coordinate and discuss the county’s game plan for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
After a tough year with many challenges for all, it was a privilege to call Culmore Clinic patients and hear the excitement in their voices as I explained they were eligible for the vaccine and signed them up wherever we could find available time slots. We answered patients’ questions about the vaccine and provided additional resources ahead of their appointment to ensure a comfortable and informed healthcare experience, just like Culmore Clinic knows how to do.
As I graduated college and began my first full time job at the MITRE Corporation as a Public Health Analyst, I’ve been able to use my knowledge and experiences of working directly with patients at Culmore Clinic to inform my work with federal health agencies – evaluating and improving important nationwide programs that improve access to healthcare and advance health equity in underserved communities.
Learning about the social determinants of health that impact our patient population has informed how I approach my public health work and provided me with a deep understanding of what high-quality, culturally-affirming healthcare delivery can look like in practice.
Over the past two years, I have enjoyed utilizing MITRE’s ‘civic time’ benefit to come help with Culmore CLinic diabetes classes and interpret for providers at The Clinic, always returning to the office with a refreshed sense of my passion for public health.
Erica (fourth from left) with the YPC team at a recent event they hosted.
As a member of the Young Professionals Committee (YPC), led by Jasmine Williams, I have had the opportunity to promote the mission of Culmore Clinic to the larger DMV community, recruit new volunteers and staff to support The Clinic, and support development efforts as Culmore Clinic looks to its future.
Speaking of Young Professionals Committee, if you make a donation to Culmore Clinic surrounding their June 24th International Food & Wine Tasting event and note that it’s in honor of YPC, your gift will be matched thanks to a generous donor! Donate now.
Thank you to all who have supported me during my volunteer journey thus far - I look forward to many more years! I highly encourage anyone interested to become involved in our important work.
The views expressed here are Erica’s and don’t necessarily reflect those of her employer.