Hannah Henderson Edited Reflection

For these nine weeks, I have spent my time as a Summer Service Fellow at the Church Health Center. Specifically, I worked in the department of the MEMPHIS Plan, which is an “employer sponsored healthcare plane” which relies on donated services from doctors in the Memphis area to provide extremely affordable healthcare for the working uninsured. Being able to be a part of one of the foremost health nonprofits in the area has been an extremely rewarding experience -- seeing firsthand all of the work that the CHC does to aid the community and their health has been inspiring for me, and being able to work alongside them in that mission has been very valuable.

The word “service” can have a very fluid definition, and that is something that has only become truer for me as I have served this summer and had the opportunity to hear each week about how all of the other Fellows have found their own unique way to serve. My peers have had experiences from leading camps on a farm and teaching ESL to refugees to interviewing juvenile inmates and calling pharmaceutical companies to conduct research, and it has challenged my idea of service in a very positive way.

I experienced this in my own placement, as I witnessed and worked in a type of “non-profit insurance company” (which many would call an oxymoron). As a business major, it is easy to get lost in numbers and become only worried about the bottom line. However, the Summer Service Fellowship has given me the opportunity to not only gain valuable business experience, but also do it in an environment that is focused on helping valuable, hardworking members of Memphis’ community rather than the typical profit-oriented corporation.

The MEMPHIS plan is specifically targeted for those members of the community who earn too much money to qualify for government sponsored healthcare, but at the same time are unable to afford the high premiums normally associated with the insurance world (the way they achieve this is by offering the service to those who work more than 20 hours a week but earn less than 200% of the poverty line). This fellowship has helped me cultivate a passion for those who fall through these cracks and given me valuable experience in the business world, while staying in touch with and being able to give back to the Memphis community.

In the future, I look forward to using this experience to be able to continue to make a positive impact in the community while using my education in the business world, and I am extremely thankful to the Summer Service Fellowship for giving me the opportunity to work in a place that has given me such training.