“We are not employees, we are not interns. WE ARE MEMBERS. We are not working, we are not volunteering. WE ARE SERVING!"

Post written by CHC Member Melissa Akinlawon:
Anyone can volunteer their time for community service, but it shows a unique type of passion to dedicate an entire year of service to tackle the mission of improving access to health services and addressing health disparities in underdeserved communities. That type of PASSION is what you will encounter with the new members of the 2012-2013 Chicago Health Corps, an AmeriCorps program, part of the National Health Corps.

As we discovered during Pre-Service Orientation (which began September 4^th), we are a diverse, inquisitive, and of course, passionate group of young individuals from all over the country anxious to be pioneers and leave our footprints in the “dirt” of service (it’s not always peachy clean and pretty!). We all have amazing and often quite hilarious background stories—some have lived in exotic countries, others are fanatics for certain music artists, we have some diehard Chicago natives, and even a member otherwise known as “Pollo Frito”! You will definitely have to join us in this year-long journey to meet all of us and hear about our experiences of service at our host sites.
And speaking of host sites….the members of CHC are serving at some truly amazing sites this year, such as:

·         American Cancer Society

·         Erie Family Health Center

·         Heartland International Health Center

·         Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago

·         Seven Generations Ahead

·         Illinois Eye Institute at Princeton Elementary School

This is merely the beginning! We hope you are just as amped as us! But, if you simply cannot contain your excitement until next week’s blog entry then keep in touch via our Facebook and Twitter pages.