Proposed Lecture Series: Caring for Under-Served Populations

[tank]

Howdy, Folks.

Sara Szmodis (my housemate, T4) and I have been kicking around all sorts of ways to reach under-served communities, and one of the things that came up was the idea for a lecture series on just that very topic. I want to know who would be interested in attending, as well as if you know people who would be qualified and interested in speaking.

The focus would be on caring for under-served populations like migrant workers, sex workers of all stripes, and addicts. These folks are right here, in our community, and they need care from people with whom they feel safe. What do you say to reach these folks, and how do you say it? What do you _not_ say? Who are your referral resources? We do have people in the Bay Area who work with these populations in their own ways (Clean Needle Exchange, St. James Infirmary, Berkeley Free Clinic, etc) that we can ask to speak, but maybe you know more or have a special 'in' with someone. ??? I'd like to get acupuncture and herbs to these folks, especially since most of them don't have access to medical insurance.

If you are interested in taking such a series, volunteering to make it happen, know people who might like to speak in the series, or just plain think it's a good idea and want to see it happen, please drop your comment into the thread and help build momentum for it.

tank
PS: Our not-so-secret wish is to ultimately generate enough momentum to get externships setup in the East Bay for these specific populations. ;-)

[Scott Rowe]

Great idea! Like so many great ideas, I wish I were going to be around to see it bear fruit. (I'll probably see it anyway, who am I kidding?)

I'd suggest talking to Dr. Pepper. He does a lot of public health work and may be able to help directly or indirectly. You may also want to talk to the people at Kwan Yin in the City; they could help you out a lot with resources too. I don't know... just a few thoughts.

-S.

[tank]

Thanks, Scott. Those are two resources I hadn't thought of.

t

[Crystal Paul]

I love this idea. I don't really feel like I have much expertise to contribute, but I would DEFINITELY attend. One of my goals as I start my career is how to reach out to disadvantaged and/or under-served populations, so I'd love to learn what I can!

[Dawn]

Hi~

I think this is a great idea and I would love to participate!! I am also interested in what is going on with healthcare in the prison system, another overlooked, under served population. I would be interested in volunteering in this endeavor.

Dawn

[tank]

Thanks for adding prisoners to the list. It's funny who we each have a listening for and who falls off of our respective radars. For me, personally, I have worked tomato and pepper fields and landscaping jobs with undocumented migrant workers and have a few friends who are ProDommes and strippers, and an old high school buddy who is a recovered addict and prostitute. My experiences keep these populations close to my head and heart, while to other folks they seem unsavory or are simply not in their consciousness. It is interesting to me that prisoners -- clearly an underserved population -- were not on my radar just the way sex workers and migrants probably aren't for most folks. It makes me wonder who else we are missing. Thank you.

[Dawn]

There are countless underserved populations. I am so glad to be dialoguing about this topic. Thanks for getting the ball rolling!

[tank]

Yeah, and every project has to draw its lines, unfortunately, and sharpen its focus. But here I want brainstorming and ideas if people have them. I also just really, really want to find other like-minded folks within our school and community. I have to say that right now I am a little put-off by the lack of response, but I also know that not everyone follows the discussions, which is a shame. The more replies the more likely it is to continue to be seen on the homepage, and the more likely others will be to join in.

[Sara Szmodis]

The other thought that I've been having over the last couple of days is serving American Indian populations. There are sources of funding for folks who want to go to law school and specialize in Indian affairs--perhaps there might be some funding for folks who are interested in providing treatment to this population?

Jumping off of Tank's and my conversation about underserved undocumented migrant populations, it strikes me that a large number of undocumented migrants might be found working in the restaurant industry--a pretty grueling place. Maybe also getting the word out there might be a good way of seeing people, particularly those who are in fairly good health but might have work-related Qi and Blood stag issues from their jobs?

[Dawn]

I agree that it is off-putting when so few people respond, but things like this are generally slow to start. Perhaps the few of us that would like to talk about this should meet up at school if possible for an hour or shorter, whatever is possible. If that's not realistic, then perhaps we each could pick one population and do a bit of research about what is already going on. Any little bit of info would be a good start. We could all write what we find here on this blog to keep it going.

Perhaps I'm getting a head of myself...

[Sara Szmodis]

Although I'm not against it, I think that it might be quite difficult to get folks together at a specific time due to class and work schedules. I'd also hate to see this stall out due to time lag in getting schedules together. Maybe this is a good forum in which to speak about it for now?

Penn State's Graduate School used to do a brown bag lunch series--grad students brought their snacky bits and there was an hour's worth of lecture with Q&A following for about 30 minutes. Depending on the speaker, this series was quite popular. I'm wondering if this might be the way to go here?

[Dawn]

I really like to brown bag lunch idea.

[Site Owner]

One group I had always wanted to set something up with was the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. One of their programs was giving support to the families of people in prison. The majority of the family members they serve are inner-city black women with a LOT on their plate ... clearly in need of TLC and acupuncture. They've added a lot to their programs now, so I'm not sure what groups are served by each program, but I do have a personal contact there if you'd like someone to help orient you. I think they would be a great resource for finding your target populations because they are so well connected to the Oakland and Greater Bay Area communities.

Another group that would be helpful is EBASE (East-Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy). They work with area unions, a number of which comprise migrant workers. I have a good contact here as well, if you would like some sort of introduction.

In neither case would you need me to put you in touch with these folks, but it's always helpful to have a 2nd degree connection over a cold call.

BTW, I feel you on the low response rate. I've seen it before, but it certainly doesn't mean people aren't interested. They're probably waiting to see you gain traction with this initiative. Push forward, I say, and when you have a little momentum, more people will join you. And I am glad you all have found this venue useful. One thing I noticed over the years is that so many people failed to connect and have conversations like these because they had conflicting schedules that got in the way of such "hallway conversations." Come to think of it, that's what this forum category should be called. Done!