Field Placement: Coalition for Community Health (CCH)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Preceptor: Tina Christopulos MPH
Student Name: Robert Miyashiro
Year: 2003

From June through December 2003, I completed my field studies requirement at the Coalition for Community Health (CCH). CCH is a 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated to building healthy communities in Central and South Central Los Angeles through a network of nearly thirty community clinics, non-profit organizations, and public entities. Founded in 1991, CCH programs target under-served, low-income populations including immigrants, children and the homeless, with special emphasis on the large Latino population in the area. Telling characteristics of this population include its low percentage of health coverage, lower levels of English proficiency, and the significant number of undocumented immigrants.

CCH’s current programming runs the gamut, from direct services to educational outreach to community organizing and research. Recent successes in its programming include successful community rallying and demonstration efforts involving hundreds of community members in response to LA County’s 2002 Measure B initiative and an expanded “Saving the Safety Net” community education and outreach program, which has successfully facilitated twenty-five community presentations, which discuss the current state of the County health system, in the past twelve months.

My decision to work in a smaller organization such as CHS was purposeful. As a smaller CBO, I was able to experience, firsthand, the nuances and intricacies that are apparent in the interaction among smaller community-based non-profits – and work through them to complete my assigned tasks. With this knowledge, I developed a much stronger respect for the “other” health system that provides health support and services for the proportion of the population is not adequately served by state-sponsored services. Ultimately, this experience provided a realistic “grounding” for my academic coursework, especially given my career goals of working for a CBO not unlike CCH.

Furthermore, the intimacy of the staff and the programming allowed me to gain knowledge of a wide spectrum of programs that the organization provides to the surrounding community. With this said, my “role” in the organization, or even a singular project that I could attest at being “mine” would be impossible. However, there were three categories in my objectives within the organization: capacity building/materials development, technical research, and workgroup organization:

• Capacity building/materials development included creating a media presence for the organization as a whole for fundraising efforts, as well as the development of toolkits for various programs and marketing materials to promote already developed materials.
• Technical research included library research, the conducting of key informant interviews, and other means of information retrieval required in the writing-up of detailed technical reports for our coalition partners.
• Workgroup organization included maintenance and focusing of the agenda of the Homeless Healthcare workgroup, which aims to organize local CBOs under a larger umbrella to work on broader issues, including advocacy and data collection.

My experience at CCH was very pleasant, due in part, to the convivial nature of my coworkers. My preceptor, Tina Christopulos MPH, as well as the other staff was very welcoming and responsive to my many queries. I am so pleasantly taken by this organization that I have committed to extending several responsibilities (including management of the workgroup) through at least June 2004.

Back to CHS Field Studies Placement Index | Back to CHS Field Studies | Back to Field Studies Home