Minnesota Public Health Corps
Bloomington Public Health Communications with AmeriCorps
by Annika Carlson
Background
In the fall of 2022, the state of Minnesota adopted a new branch of AmeriCorps service called the Public Health Corps. The goal of this program is to increase capacity within the field of public health at the state and local levels, where there is an immediate need for trained workers. The field of public health is diverse, and this program aims to give students and early career professionals a chance to explore the various paths within the field while gaining firsthand experience.
Public Health Corps members are placed within local governments or organizations; I was placed with the City of Bloomington’s Public Health Division, working alongside their communications specialist, in January of this year as part of the second group of Public Health Corps members. I was drawn to this program because I am interested in a public health career but I did not know what kinds of jobs were out there, and it is also difficult to find jobs that do not require post-graduate degrees or experience. With AmeriCorps, I am an employee but I am also a student, learning from my peers, teachers, and mentors; no previous experience in public health is required to apply for this job, so it is a great opportunity for someone who is just out of college or thinking about changing career paths to experiment in the variety of PH fields.
Organization’s work
Before being placed with Bloomington Public Health Communications, I did not know there was such a thing. Working with the City of Bloomington, there are many sectors that interact to make this work come together. I work within the Public Health Division as a communications specialist, but we also collaborate with the City’s overall Communications Division, Community Outreach and Engagement, Public Works, and many other areas of the local government. Therefore, PH works in conjunction with the rest of the city in promoting health and safety measures. The goal of PH communications is to promote the work of our colleagues, increase accessibility of health information material, and improve engagement with all members of the communities we serve.
What I do
Some of my primary tasks include updating resources that we share with the community and working with translation services to make them accessible in multiple languages, promoting internal relationships by sharing success stories and employee profiles, updating our online materials, and more. My position is hybrid, so I work four days a week at home and one at the office in Bloomington. Most days I have at least one meeting to track the progress of projects or connect about new ideas. This job is primarily internal, meaning I work closely with members of my team but I do often engage directly with the community.
One specific project that I am taking on is creating a website for a new opioid prevention collaboration that has been created by Bloomington PH employees. The purpose of this project is to provide accurate information for the community about opioid resources and specific risks for Minnesota residents. Another responsibility I have is to write and share success stories about our work. One of my first projects was to write a story for our newsletter about a client who was so happy with her experience at Bloomington PH that she wrote to us years later to express her gratitude. These stories help to remind us why our work is important and that even helping one person can bring so much joy.
In March, Bloomington Public Health wrapped our new Mobile Health Hub, a trailer designed at the start of this year to bring public health services into the community.
What I’ve Learned
For me, this work is not over. I started my term of service at the start of the year and will be continuing it until December, so I still have more time to learn. So far, I have learned that there are benefits and challenges to working with numerous teams; collaboration is great because it brings different perspectives to the table, but it also means that there is more room for holdups when people have many responsibilities and may not all prioritize the same projects. Unlike in school, deadlines change often, and this sometimes feels like work happens slower than the pace I’m used to, but this has been a welcome adjustment. I have learned a fair amount about public health professions within local government, but I have yet to engage with them on a deeper level. This is a goal of mine for the remainder of the year. As of right now, I think that after this, I would like to find a job that is more service-oriented rather than behind-the-scenes. While I am learning a significant amount about the world of public health, I feel as though I am not personally engaging with many people or organizations, which is something I want to strive for in the future.
Annika Carlson
Hi! My name is Annika and I'm from Port Townsend, Washington. While at Macalester, I was an International Studies major with a Community and Global Health concentration and Spanish and Media Studies minors. I was also a member of the Chorale and an intramural soccer team called Whiskey Business. After Macalester, I will continue working with Bloomington Public Health through the year and then focus my efforts on applying for jobs in global health.