Community HealthCorps Alumni

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The Community HealthCorps program introduced me to the community health center movement. I was based within Valley Health and travelled to all the satellite centers and served in the communities where the centers were located. I got to experience rural Appalachia.
While serving with Community HealthCorps, I volunteered to help write a Community Access Program (CAP) grant application for Valley Health. When that grant was funded, I was given the opportunity to work for the grant. I then became a health center administrator and ultimately COO. It was rewarding and educational to start with outreach and learn the organization from the ground up.
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The most influential experience while serving as CHIP Outreach Coordinator involved assisting a single mother and her young son. The mother was working fulltime and did not have health insurance. We attempted to get her signed up for CHIP. The mother was literally pennies over income and did not qualify. I was devastated to suggest to a dedicated mother who was striving to make ends meet and provide for her son that it would be better if she dropped her income for a period of a few months in order to qualify for CHIP. Her son needed a very expensive ear surgery and without insurance, she could not afford it. I shared this experience with the WV CHIP director and like to think this case made an impact in raising the income levels to 300% FPL. With this first-hand experience, I was completely committed to the health center movement and contributing to better health outcomes and access to care. I still carry this story with me today and use it to ground myself and remind me of the impact our efforts make in the lives of real people.
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Interested in serving another term of service?
On April 21, 2009, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama. This act represented the most sweeping expansion of national service since the Corporation for National and Community Service was created. One exciting part of this legislation that recently took effect allows members to serve multiple service terms that add up to the value of 2 full-time AmeriCorps education awards. This means that if you have previously served in Community HealthCorps you may be eligible for another term of service. For more information click here.
Important revisions have been made to the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award
If you have received your Segal AmeriCorps Education Award and have not used it, there’s some exciting news! Across the nation, 94 colleges and universities are now matching your award amount. To see the full list of participating schools, please click here.
To check your education award balance, simply log in to My AmeriCorps today!












