WCC Launches New Program in the Western Addition

The Women's Community Clinic consistently strives to provide services that are community delivered and motivated by community need. Several years ago a group began to discuss how we could more effectively serve African American women—particularly those who are closer to the Clinic in the Western Addition. The group was driven by young African American women, who were part of the Clinic community and who had grown up in the Western Addition. We all knew the context we were working in—one in which African American women are primary users of “safety net” health care services but are too seldom part of the community of health care providers. After months of discussion with community part-ners—assessing need and discussing program design— we launched the Western Addition Health Training Program (WAHT). WAHT builds upon the Clinic’s strengths and on the Community’s strengths—in training emerging health leaders—African American women from the Western Addition—providing opportunities to facilitate outreach in the community, to shadow other African American leaders in the health professions, and to train in a health care setting while pursing their career goals.

CITY FUNDING RESTORED!

Thank you to the City of San Francisco and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi for restoring funds in the amount of $204,000 to the Women's Community Clinic! These funds allow us to provide vital health services to women in need.

The WCC would like to extend a HUGE thank you to all of our supporters, allies, and advocates who rallied together to help get our funding restored.

You have all shown what the power of community and organizing can do! Thank you for being such great forces in ensuring the Clinic's ability to continue to meet the needs of uninsured women and girls in the Bay Area.

Meet Kemi Role, Program Director:

My name is Kemi Role, and I have been a volunteer at the Clinic for almost two years. My roles at the Clinic have included client services coordination, health education, and pregnancy counseling and I hope to become an HIV counselor as well. My admiration and genuinelove for the WCC hasinspired and motivated me to becomeincreasingly involved with the Clinic. I am very excited and incredibly honored for the opportunity to develop this fantastic new program and to work with the new program associates, clinic volunteers, and staff. Through this program, I hope to continue to build the WCC's tradition of providing quality care and education to communitiesin need, particularly African-American women in San Francisco.

I'm currently preparing for a career in medicine and have already found an incredible wealth of opportunities and education at the WCC. I hope to use my experiences at the WCC as a foundation for future work serving the health care needs of women in underserved and international populations.

Meet LaTanya Johnson, Program Associate:

My name is Latanya Johnson I was born and raised in the Western Addition's Plaza East housing development. I am a 22 year old proud single mother of a very spunky 6 year old girl. I'm currently attending classes at City College of San Francisco while also working as a Program Associate for the Western Addition Health Training Program. Myinterest in the Clinic started when I visited their website and found out that all of their services are free and that most of the staff are volunteers, including clinicians!It amazed me and I just knew I wanted to be a part of this organization. Being here at the Clinic has helped me realize that giving and receiving competent and compassionate health care is indeed priceless. After volunteering for almost four months I was very excited to be selected as a program associate for this program. I want people in my community to become better informed about how to access the care they need. I know how it feels to have limited access to health care so when programs come along such as this project, it's a beautiful opportunity to grow in my awareness. I plan to become a registered nurse, and then a specialized nurse practitioner, and eventually would like to open a non-profit organization promoting health and awareness for low-income women and children, which would include exercise, health education and full-time childcare. I feel that my work at the WCC will help lead me towards achieving my future goals.

Meet Tatiana Molinar, Program Associate:

My name is Tatiana Molinar and I currently live in the Western Addition. I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pursue a degree in Health Education with an emphasis in Holistic Health from San Francisco State University. During my last year of the program I had the opportunity to intern with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and for nearly three years have enjoyed volunteering as a health educator, peer educating through the California AIDS, Hepatitis, and STD Hotline, and empowering members of marginalized age, ethnic, and gender groups as a public speaker with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Speakers Bureau.

I am excited to be a part of the Women's Community Clinic team, and grateful for the opportunity to continue reaching out to women, especially those who identify as African American, and are the fastest growing demographic for HIV and AIDS infection. My new position at WCC will not only provide a strong support system so that I may continue in the fight against HIV, Hepatitis C and STIs but also provide the opportunity to share and apply my harm reduction experience as well as learn new techniques to prevent a wider range of public health endemics that directlyi mpact all of our communities, and especially the Western Addition. I am excited beyond words and can't wait to join WCC in making a difference in my community!

Letter from the Executive Director

Greetings! This is my first correspondence with you since my return from sabbatical. After seven years, I was honored to get a three month sabbatical during which I was able to pursue some personal goals, to recharge and spend some important time connecting with family. I am incredibly grateful to the amazing Staff at the Clinic and to our Advisory Board for giving me this time. I returned to find that the organization was thriving and was reminded (not that I needed to be!) that the leadership here is strong and that we rest on the foundation of many committed, competent women.

I was proud to work for an organization that "walks the walk" when it comes to our values as a feminist organization. Our Board made a bold statement in approving this sabbatical and in other human resource policies that we have set such as ensuring that our staff is paid at a level that is appropriate and by providing a thorough, comprehensive benefits package. As members of our community, It hank you for supporting these values, which underlie everything we do at the Clinic. These values enable us to take care of ourselves. They also enable us to more effectively serve and support our clients.

And, speaking of taking care of women - I returned to a time that was ripe with dialogue around the issue of universal healthcare in California. Our clients are no strangers to how the lack of access to health care affects women. The Women's Community Clinic has for the past several years now, been participating on the Executive Committee of the Women's Working Group for Universal Health Care (WWG). The WWG focuses its efforts on raising the visibility of women in the debate surrounding universal health care. As quoted in a recent editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle:

"A range of obstacles -- economic, social and logistical -- make it difficult for women to gain access to a full range of health services. As the debate proceeds, lawmakers should remind them- selves that women are the major consumers of health care -- because of their reproductive needs and because they live longer, with higher rates of chronic illness than men."

This article highlights some of the primary concerns that women have as it relates to their health andtheir status as caregivers in our culture. The irony being that while women take care of us, we aren't taking care of them. At the core of our values at the Clinic lies the belief that everyone deserves access to quality health care regardless of their ability to pay. We raise our voices in this debate on behalf of and hand in hand with our clients. By the time you read this letter, we will likely know what has become of this year's debate and whether or not our lawmakers have come to agreement on a package that will truly expand access t ohealthcare. We here at the Women's Community Clinic hope that we won't have to hold our breath for too much longer.

In gratitude,
Carlina Hansen
Executive Director

Homeless Women Speak Out for Services... and are heard! The City Funds Ladies' Night!

There is a lot to celebrate at Ladies' Night these days since we received confirmation that, for the first time ever, the City will be funding our weekly drop-in program for homeless and marginally housed women in the Mission. The city accepted our proposed budget of $153,000 which includes money for general operating costs as well as new program enhancements such as internship programs, methadone maintenance services, art and activity supplies and much more!!! We are not celebrating the successful outcome alone but rather the entire organizing and advocacy process that took place to galvanize the support of the City Government. It was a true group effort that included the hard work of Ladies' Night participants, staff, volunteers and citywide allies.

If you stop by Ladies' Night you might hear women reflecting on the speech they gave in front of the Board of Supervisors about the needs of homeless women; or how many people they got to sign a petition in support of Ladies' Night; or how a group of women went up to the Mayors office to escort him to the advocacy event we held in front of City Hall. Our victory reflects the power of women to work together to create positive change in the community and the power of programs like Ladies' Night to provide a safe community space for women who work and live on the streets to access services and advocate for their needs. Celia Mendoza, Ladies' Night participant who is pictured above, spoke to this power in front of CityHall when she said: "I know that these are the services women need; these are the services that let women know their life is worth something. The City needs to fund these programs. A lot of women don't know there are these programs that can change our lives, these services are not easy to find. We women who have drug and alcohol problems need help from the City, because we have a lot to give the City; we have goals and we meet our obligations when we are given a real chance."

Ladies' Night, hosted in collaboration with the Mission Neighborhood Resource Center and other community-based organizations, is a weekly drop-in time for homeless and marginally-housed women in the Mission District. Each week between 40 and 60 biological and transgender women come to Ladies' Night for the services and camaraderie.