The Carl Vogel Center is a non-profit community based organization that provides health care and resources to medically under-served communities. The clinic focuses on its clients’ holistic well-being, responding to mental, emotional and physical health issues that arise for individuals in the community, especially those living with HIV/AIDS. By acting as informational resources, medical care providers, patient advocates and liaisons with parts of the larger health systems, the Carl Vogel Center is able to empower the men and women who come to visit, allowing them to regain control over the condition of their minds, bodies and lives.
The Center is located on the 7th floor of an office building tucked onto a busy street in Downtown Washington, D.C. If I hadn’t double and triple checked the address on the flier advertising their National Women’s Health Week event, I never would have believed that there was a bustling clinic located inside the drab building. However, upon arriving at suite 700 I was met with a flurry of activity – parents and children waiting in armchairs, people checking in and speaking with employees, an office staff that passed briskly between rooms with armloads of paperwork and medical utensils – and a small sign with an arrow that pointed me towards a large room in the back of the office reading “National Women’s Day – This Way”.
In this back room, I expected to find booths of health information, perhaps a few clients who had lingered past their normal appointment time to see what was going on, possibly some hard candies; what I didn’t expect was to walk in on a lively group of women who were giving each other manicures, sharing lunch and exchanging candid advice and stories. With a creative interpretation of National Women’s Health Week’s theme, “Its Your Time,” these women were making time for themselves to relax, focus on themselves and their personal well-being, fitting in just a little bit of the pampering they deserve. They were surrounded by brochures and papers with information about everything from chronic disease management, safe sex, healthy eating plans, medical screenings and mental health strategies. Everyone was immediately welcoming and willing to tell me about what they were doing that day to celebrate National Women’s Health Week and National Women’s Check-Up Day.
Since breakfast time, these women – united in a desire to become more involved in their own health – had gathered for a series of workshops. They discussed “women’s health from head to toe”, touching on methods for preventing and living with common chronic diseases--breast and cervical cancer, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, among others--and participating in a workshop on de-stressing exercises and self-affirmation. A representative from the Carl Vogel Center, who was also the woman who coordinated this fantastic event, described different services offered by the organization and how to best utilize them. They openly talked about difficult topics and questions that normally no one seemed to want to answer, proving how quickly a gathering of strangers can become a peer-resource base and support group.
The main focus of the day was increasing knowledge about the important screenings and immunizations that women should get to maintain health at each age and stage of life, another great interpretation of the Health Week theme. With a handy hot-pink chart that showed the general ages in which a woman should undergo certain tests or start considering certain lifestyle practices, participants were able to leave the group with concrete understanding of how their bodies needs’ change and how to manage each stage of life.
After their day spent learning, teaching, pampering, talking, strategizing, supporting and solidifying a connection between the Carl Vogel Center and their own communities, the women left suite 700 and the drab office building, ready to be advocates for themselves and resources for family and friends. An empowering National Women’s Health Week event, if there ever was one.
Visit the Carl Vogel Center website for more information, more health resources, and more ways that you can get involved or contribute to this innovative clinic: http://www.carlvogelcenter.com/index.htm Stay tuned for more ways that YOU can become empowered during this week of women's health or any time!