WAHT!

WAHT hosts Well Womens Night

2009-06-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

We hosted an open house with the young women with CYWD. Over the course of their internship we presented sexual and reproductive health workshops and presentations which culminated into this event.

Part of their experience was an acupuncture demonstration by the Clinic's volunteer Acupuncturist Arin. We all had a lot of fun.

Reproductive Freedom Day!

2009-04-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

March 21st WAHT fellows along with several Clinic staff traveled to Sacramento to learn policy advocacy during a daylong event titled Reproductive Freedom Day.

We each prepared details which were most important to us and our community to present to one of our senators to encourage his or her support of a Single Payer healthcare system for California.

The hosts of the event were California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom.

Jamila Harris

2009-03-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

Today we met with mentor and co-founder of WAHT, Jamila Harris. It was fun! We learned what it was like going from volunteering at the clinic to being a medical student, and a little history of how WAHT began
It was a mini WAHT reunion.

HPPC update

2009-03-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

March 12th members of the HIV Prevention and Planning Council voted to include Trans-men who have sex with men in the highest priority tier on the list of Behavioral Risk Populations (BRP's). It was a very emotionally charged topic, and despite a few reservations, the council almost unanimously voted to include trans men who have sex with men in the men who have sex with men BRP.

The public comment was a very powerful piece that was very effective in reminding us of our role in taking the lead in prevention efforts in the city.

Black Issues in Health

2009-02-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

February 20th we attended the Annual Black Issues in Health Conference, moderated by our mentor, and clinic board member Rhea Bailey.

It was our first off site event as a new WAHT team, and was an incredibly moving and empowering experience. The keynote speaker of the event was Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary and the topic was Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome.

As part of our professional development we were each given Communication goals, to reach out to a persons at the event and discus the details of our program. It was a lot of fun and a lot of learning.

HPPC

2009-02-05T14:42:00.001-08:00

The Womens Community Clinic now has a formal representative helping with San Francisco's HIV Prevention and Planning efforts. I, Tatiana Molinar, a second year WAHT fellow became an official HIV Prevention and Planning Council (HPPC) member February 1, 2009. This year, as part of my program hours, I will be working with community members and the Department of Public Health to help the city prioritize HIV and AIDS prevention efforts.

To learn more about HPPC please visit their site here

To find out how to attend a meeting or to read minutes from a past meeting please link here

My first meeting as an official HPPC member is February 12, 2009. I look forward to representing the clinic, and keeping us all informed of the happenings in HIV Planning and Prevention efforts in San Francisco. Please stay tuned for more updates!

Obama Health Care Reform Discussion

2009-01-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

On December 17, the Women’s Community Clinic and Planned Parenthood Golden Gate hosted an interactive community discussion to bring forth solutions to help the Obama-Biden Transition team reduce health care disparities.

18 health care providers, volunteers and community members joined us for this timely discussion. We submitted our report directly to the Obama-Biden Transition Team for consideration in their health care reform plans. It was a really amazing opportunity to sit down with a group of women.

Listen to Clinic Executive Director Carlina Hansen discuss the forum on KPOO-FM’s Focus on Women’s Health radio show

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from WAHT and the Clinic. We have a lot planned and a lot to look forward to in this new year, but it has also been a great opportunity to reflect on what we've learned in our pilot year of the WAHT program. For now I'm excited to announce that we have two new Year I WAHT fellows who will be joining our team, Antoineisha Johnson and Mikaela Merchant. They are both incredible women and Tatiana and I are looking forward to working with them as we continue to grow the WAHT program.

We're Moving!

2008-12-01T10:38:00.000-08:00

Next year the Women's Community Clinic and WAHT will move to a new facility located at 1833 Fillmore Street (between Bush and Sutter) in San Francisco.

This move is one of the direct ways that the Clinic and WAHT are working to better serve the women in the Western Addition. The new location, which is easier to access by public transportation and over three times the size of our current space, will allow us to expand the WAHT program to support more fellows while improving our ability to directly respond to the health care needs in the Western Addition.

The new location will have a conference room so we can host community meetings and trainings.

For more information visit the Clinic's website.

Stay tuned for updates on construction!

Anne

more workshops!

2008-11-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

This week we hosted two workshops with the Oasis girls group Rise. We learned a lot from each other, and can't wait to work with them again!

From WAHT!

Young Women's Development

2008-10-24T13:22:00.001-07:00

Wednesday October 22^nd was our first of a series of three workshops we will be facilitating for the ladies of the Sisters Rising Program with the Center for Young Women’s Development. They were a very vocal and insightful group, and it was a pleasure working with them. They left us with a lot to talk and think about. Learn more about this organization by linking to them here… http://www.cywd.org/

Critical Resistance! a personal story

2008-10-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended the 10^th annual Critical Resistance movement, an attempt to abolish the prison industrial complex. Critical Resistance has changed my life, by reminding me that I can still remain loyal and dedicated to ultimate long term social justice goals, while helping provide care and support for the here and now.

I sought out to Critical Resistance for support in my quest to learn how to better support women’s health in prisons, and in effectively providing access to healthcare and supplies for recently released prisoners. The event provided not only what I came for but also reminded me how possible and very necessary it is to provide immediate support while still remaining focused on larger societal and economic problems which create the framework where people even need our services. Critical Resistance celebrated the abolitionist stance (hooray!) while still supporting individual efforts within and in support of prisoners within the prison industrial complex (second hooray!).

It was well attended by health care providers, and educators, all self proclaimed abolitionists who work in the here and now, yet are organized to mobilize towards a greater cause. I began to see how WAHT, which feels rooted in addressing the greater causes of the health care needs of the Western Addition, can continue to promote a discussion and awareness of the gang injunctions, for example, while still attending to those who the implementation of gang injunctions has already affected. It was the perfect dose of upstream and downstream I needed before street outreach on Monday and program planning on Wednesday. I am absolutely thrilled to be a member of WAHT and to have received the clinics support in attending this event. Without Kemi, the program director, encouraging my attendance, and Anne the Communications Director’s, support around networking and communicating the programs goals and mission to persons at the event, the clinics outreach program, which has invited WAHT to help provide workshops in prison, Carlina, our executive director, who was my first live example when I arrived at the clinic of primary prevention alongside tertiary prevention by running the clinics operations, while still actively promoting universal health care… I may not have been prepared to attend and certainly would not have been able to actively participate at Critical Resistance. Critical Resistance was a great experience and I am so glad to be a member of a clinic community where I have already had opportunities to begin applying what I have learned. I encourage you to visit their site at http://www.criticalresistance.org. Thanks for your support!

Tatiana

WAHT is recruiting!

2008-09-26T17:59:00.001-07:00

Are you an African-American woman between the ages of 18-25 who wants:

• A rewarding & challenging paid fellowship?

• Mentorship & guidance in preparing for a career in health care?

• Skills in health education, medical assisting, HIV counseling, workshop development, and professional training?

Then we want you!

The Western Addition Health Training (WAHT) Program is recruiting Program Fellows.

WAHT is a two year grassroots health career paid learning program for African-American women from San Francisco.

The program has three main areas of concentration:

Health career development and training
Professional mentorship
Community outreach and collaboration

WAHT Program Fellows are paid staff of the Women’s Community Clinic.

To apply or get more information
Send your resume to Kemi Role, WAHT Program Director, kemi@womenscommunityclinic.org, 415.379.7802 ext 371

Year 2!

2008-07-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

We have officialy begun the second year of the WAHT program! Thank you for your support and your visits. We are in the process of re-drafting our goals and objectives for the WAHT blog to help ensure that we share with you more of what WAHT represents.

Stay tuned for more posts and please subscribe to be one of the firsts to receive our updates!

HYSTERIA!

2008-05-07T14:13:00.001-07:00

Hysteria was a success! We spent several of our program hours helping prepare for the event. It was well attended and tons of fun. We were glad to see some of our community partners and mentors, and to meet members of the Clinic's extended family.

For more information, check out the Clinic's website.

In the middle is our mentor Cynthia Carey-Grant

To the right is our mentor board member Rhea Bailey

The Kaiser team who helped us secure WAHT program funding with Caroline Rhea the featured performer for the event

workshops!

2008-04-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

what healthy foods do you like?

We've had a blast hosting two workshops this past week. First with the children of the Westside Courts Housing projects on nutrition and healthy choices and the second for thirty young women with San Francisco's Back on Track Program on defining health and accessing resources.

planning

2008-03-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we met with Cynthia Carey-Grant Executive Director of Common Counsel Foundation and today we met with Rhea Bailey to discuss shadowing and mentorship oportunities.

Lots of planning and preparation has been going into our upcoming workshops which we will be presenting this Monday and Thursday. Stay tuned...

art and women's health

2008-03-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

TRAILER " WOMEN ARE HEROES"
by JR

Happy birthday Latanya!

2008-03-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

"Thank you all for wishing me a happy birthday I really appreciated that. I hope you all get to feel the way I did that day thanks... minus the tears." -LaTanya

LaTanya tearing up at staff meeting when she got her cake and gifts!

Black History Month

2008-02-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

In recognition of the last day of Black History Month we encourage you to read Dr. Treena Livingston Arinzeh's bio by clicking here

Black History Month

2008-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:00

We encourage you to read Sojurner Truths "Aint I a Woman" in recognition of Black History Month.

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883):
Ain't I A Woman Delivered 1851
Women's Convention, Akron, Ohio

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.
-----------

"Aint I a Woman" read by Alice Walker

Busy

2008-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 1, we attended Harm Reduction Strategies with Young People, a Harm Reduction Coalition workshop hosted by Micah Frazier. We are anxious to apply the harm reduction methods Micah shared with us in our workshop curriculum.

Dr. Stephen Lockhart met with WAHT, Friday February 8 and discussed with us shadowing opportunities in our areas of interest. We were a bit overwhelmed with the tons of options in nursing and narrowing down exactly which specialty we want to observe, but we will be e-mailing him with our top choices this week.

We have also been busy applying our new hours; working with the Women's Community Clinic's Cultural Competency Working Group, attending staff meetings, staff retreats, community outreach, and more program planning.

In recognition of Black History Month we encourage you to read the bio of Mae Jemison. Thanks for reading!

Black History Month

2008-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

In recognition of Black History month we encourage you to read Dr. Daniel Hale Williams bio. Thanks for you support!

Photo coutesy of Anton @ Flicker

Happy birthday Dr. King

2008-01-20T10:21:00.000-08:00

training waht trainers!

2008-01-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

Yvonne and Leah hosted both a "train the trainer" presentation and workshop for us, where they shared their tips and advice from their experience health educating. We've already begun applying what we've learned from them in developing workshop curriculum for the Friday night girls group in the African American Art and Culture Complex we'll be presenting for come March. It's all in the journey they say...

you've gotta update your top 8!

2008-01-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

"We want 1 million African Americans to get tested by June 27, 2009, which is National HIV Testing Day,"

-Sacco, 26

http://www.myspace.com/runinamillion

According to latest statistics from the CDC, nearly half of the estimated 1.2 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS are Black. And here go two guys who ran for 14 days straight from Oakland to Los Angeles to help raise money for the Black AIDS institute. Now that's cool!

happy new year!

2008-01-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

After weeks of anticipation our request for increase in hours has been approved! So now WAHT program associates have fifteen hours each week to dedicate to program planning, health educating, medical office assisting, developing and hosting workshops and more! Hooray!

Tory Johnson
photographed by Barbara Finnin

on being a black girl

2007-12-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

body image and contraception workshop

2007-12-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night, we hosted a workshop for a group of young women at OASIS for girls. With weeks of planning and preparation we were able to share with many of them an introduction to female anatomy, contraceptive options, self-care and healthy body image tips. We had a lot of fun, and we get the feeling they did as well.

World AIDS day preparation

2007-11-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

On Friday November 16th Christopher H. Bates, Acting Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, hosted a dialogue in the name of HIV prevention, treatment and research.

View it using real player by clicking here

Encouragement from Dr. Donda West RIP

2007-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

nursing school here we come!

2007-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

Today we met with registered nurse Dede Mihedji, who earned her masters in nursing from Samuel Merritt College. Since meeting with Dede was one of our first opportunities to meet and be mentored by a black nurse, we asked her a thousand questions about the nursing profession and the schooling required to get there. She agreed to allow us to shadow her during one of her ER shifts so that we can see what the job is really like.

We are actively preparing our workshop curriculum to pilot December 4th for Oasis for Girls an organization which is providing us with the opportunity to host our first The Female Body and Contraceptives workshop!

Next week our schedules will vary due to the clinics holiday schedule, so even if you don't see us around know that we are still hard at work!

Thank you for visiting
and for supporting the Women's Community Clinic!

From the Ground Up

2007-11-09T15:27:00.000-08:00

Thursday November 1st we collectively attended a Mo’ Magic Community Meeting at the AAACC 3rd Floor located at 767 Fulton (at Webster). We introduced the WAHT program and the WCC to several local non-profit organizations and learned about gang injunctions directly from the city's public defender, Jeff Adachi, and how they affect the health and wellbeing of our community.

Learn more about the western addition gang injunctions here.

And learn how this may affect our community from community members of the Bayview, another community impacted by the gang injunctions, by clicking here

Or speak with one of us
We actually managed to keep a copy of the actual injunction for the clinic and anyone who is interested.

Thanks for visiting
and for supporting the Women's Community Clinic!