Staff Spotlight: Meet Aniela Glinski, PHC Program Coordinator!

Would you be able to tell me a little about your educational background?
I went to the University of Rochester in Western New York and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and African and African American Studies. I had a minor, technically in dance, but it was specifically Movement, Culture, and Community. Currently, I’m in a Masters of Social Work program at Temple University for Community and Policy Arenas with a focus on Children, Youth and Families.

How did you get into the field of health care non-profit work?
My background is in youth, so I’ve done programming with summer camps, after-school programs, and specialty education settings. Most recently I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the education sector in Zambia, Southern Africa, but I was also working with a community-based organization. It was a home-based care organization where people from their community provided services and programming that was focused on people living with HIV, as well as vulnerable children. I partnered with them and we did a big HIV outreach prevention program in the schools. I really enjoyed doing education and prevention focused on that. Over there they don’t have the resources to give the HIV medication right away when someone is diagnosed, so the focus is on boosting the immune system. You’re trying to eat healthy. You’re doing an overall health and wellness focus. The goal is that you don’t have to go on that medication right away. That’s really where I got focused on HIV specifically. Beyond that, I’ve always just been interested in general health and wellness.

What would you say is one of the most rewarding parts of serving as the Program Coordinator for the Philadelphia Health Corps?
Seeing and hearing the things that the members have learned and how they grow over the course of the year. In the grand scheme of things, ten months is not a long period of time. So to listen and observe them from the beginning of Pre-Service Orientation to where they are at the very last member meeting and member retreat, it’s cool to see their understanding of the programs they’re working with and how the systems work. I think their ideas on development and community and social responsibility mature.

Where do you see Philadelphia Health Corps in 5 years?
I would like to see Philly Health Corps expand the definition of what we are able to do with overall health. I think that there are a lot of really amazing organizations in Philly, whether it’s focused on nutrition or the urban gardening initiative. Overall, in health and wellness, we’re a pretty active city.  I think people are committed to that. Being able to provide more opportunities, by having a bigger Corps and being able to partner with these organizations that are doing something a bit different would be really, really awesome.

What is your dream vacation?
Hopefully this comes to reality soon… I really want to go Spain, Portugal, and Morocco and take the boat across. I think they sound lovely and there’s a lot of really great wine and food so I think that would be really awesome. I hope that I would be able to meet Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal. The other one would be to go to Mali and Guinea and do a big West African dance tour vacation and go around in the different villages and get to really experience that dance and drum culture first hand. That’s definitely another dream vacation.

What was your first job?
I was a busgirl at Keenan’s Valley View Inn in my neighborhood. I was going from eighth into ninth grade and one of my friends got me a job. I would set the tables and clear off the tables and do water and bread. That was my first job and my first exposure to customer service, so it was fun.