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| Robert Harrrison, MD, MPH, Board Member |
| Juan Herrera, Board President |
| Megan Woods, Board Member |
| John Puccini, Board Treasurer |
Kathy came to the USA as a refugee/immigrant from India and speaks Nepali, Hindi and some Chinese.
Born in Kalimpong, India, Kathy and her family were unjustly jailed and interned in India for three-and-a-
half years, due to a border dispute between India and China. Sponsored out of the internment camp by the
Loreto Sisters of Calcutta, the city where her mother was born and raised, Kathy and her classmates were
put to work taking care of the orphans. They were also required to help in the work of Mother Theresa and
her Sisters of Charity by giving out food and dispensing dapsone to the Hanson disease clients outside the
walls of the school compound. Perhaps this was the beginning of Kathy’s predilection to care for the poor
and needy. She graduated from UCSF with a Masters in Community and Cross-cultural Nursing.
Currently, she is mentor/preceptor for many health care students. Hunger and homelessness are no
stranger to Kathy. Her history/memory of poverty, hunger and injustice equips Kathy with a fierce
determination to bring justice, understanding and compassion to the underprivileged and disadvantaged
whom she seeks out and serves. In 1986, she worked in Africa (Sudan and Eritrea) with the famine
refugees. Kathy has put her eager energy into implementing the vision of Public Health, trying to find,
motivate and collaborate with willing and resourceful partners to provide and improve health and quality of
life for the whole community.
Born in Kalimpong, India, Kathy and her family were unjustly jailed and interned in India for three-and-a-
half years, due to a border dispute between India and China. Sponsored out of the internment camp by the
Loreto Sisters of Calcutta, the city where her mother was born and raised, Kathy and her classmates were
put to work taking care of the orphans. They were also required to help in the work of Mother Theresa and
her Sisters of Charity by giving out food and dispensing dapsone to the Hanson disease clients outside the
walls of the school compound. Perhaps this was the beginning of Kathy’s predilection to care for the poor
and needy. She graduated from UCSF with a Masters in Community and Cross-cultural Nursing.
Currently, she is mentor/preceptor for many health care students. Hunger and homelessness are no
stranger to Kathy. Her history/memory of poverty, hunger and injustice equips Kathy with a fierce
determination to bring justice, understanding and compassion to the underprivileged and disadvantaged
whom she seeks out and serves. In 1986, she worked in Africa (Sudan and Eritrea) with the famine
refugees. Kathy has put her eager energy into implementing the vision of Public Health, trying to find,
motivate and collaborate with willing and resourceful partners to provide and improve health and quality of
life for the whole community.
| Kathy Ahoy, SLHP Founder and Public Health Nursing Partner |
Kathy Ahoy, Public Health Nurse of Alameda County, co-founded Street Level
Health Project to serve the communities of Oakland in 2000, and the project
quickly became more than health care. Kathy actively nurtured the sharing of
knowledge, resources and skills, built relationships that bonded all together in
the work of caring for and responding to the particular health disparities and
health issues of the growing immigration population. Through her work, Kathy
is committed to human flourishing and working for the common good of all. Her
passion and compassion to serve the most vulnerable people in our community
derives from her own life history and background.
Health Project to serve the communities of Oakland in 2000, and the project
quickly became more than health care. Kathy actively nurtured the sharing of
knowledge, resources and skills, built relationships that bonded all together in
the work of caring for and responding to the particular health disparities and
health issues of the growing immigration population. Through her work, Kathy
is committed to human flourishing and working for the common good of all. Her
passion and compassion to serve the most vulnerable people in our community
derives from her own life history and background.
| Andrew Herring, MD, Board Vice President and SLHP Co-founder |
"Working with Kathy and our other partners to get the Street Level Health Project
off the ground was one the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever
done," says Andrew Herring, emergency physician at Highland General Hospital
and co-founder of Street Level Health Project. "Kathy Ahoy showed me a vision of
how to realize compassion and activism in a practical, sustainable way. She forced
us all to never lose sight of the everyday lived experiences of our patients and to
not artificially separate medical needs from the social context of displacement and
marginalization in our community."
off the ground was one the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever
done," says Andrew Herring, emergency physician at Highland General Hospital
and co-founder of Street Level Health Project. "Kathy Ahoy showed me a vision of
how to realize compassion and activism in a practical, sustainable way. She forced
us all to never lose sight of the everyday lived experiences of our patients and to
not artificially separate medical needs from the social context of displacement and
marginalization in our community."
Juan was born in Guatemala and immigrated to Los Angeles with his family at age six.
Juan is a doctoral student at U.C. Berkeley in the department of Ethnic Studies, with a
focus on analyzing immigrant experiences, particularly of Latino day laborers in
Oakland. "I have always been influenced by my parent's hard work and this has
definitely shaped my academic interests in Oakland's informal labor economy...I think
part of my commitment to doing work on immigration is this desire to make my work
personal, political, and always engaged with the insights and experiences of people
like my own family members whose stories sometimes unintentionally inform much of
my academic research."
Juan is a doctoral student at U.C. Berkeley in the department of Ethnic Studies, with a
focus on analyzing immigrant experiences, particularly of Latino day laborers in
Oakland. "I have always been influenced by my parent's hard work and this has
definitely shaped my academic interests in Oakland's informal labor economy...I think
part of my commitment to doing work on immigration is this desire to make my work
personal, political, and always engaged with the insights and experiences of people
like my own family members whose stories sometimes unintentionally inform much of
my academic research."
John Puccini is an East Bay native who came to Street Level Health Project in
2005 while working on the science pre-requisites that would ultimately allow him to
change careers into a medical field after spending 8 years at PeopleSoft Inc.
working as a software consultant. He had had no prior medical experience, but
had studied abroad in Spanish speaking countries on multiple occasions and had
a desire to work in the local Latino community. Initially he volunteered as a
healthworker in the SLHP screening clinic, but this experience had a profound
effect on him and he found himself devoting more time to helping the screening
clinic be more self-sustainable.
2005 while working on the science pre-requisites that would ultimately allow him to
change careers into a medical field after spending 8 years at PeopleSoft Inc.
working as a software consultant. He had had no prior medical experience, but
had studied abroad in Spanish speaking countries on multiple occasions and had
a desire to work in the local Latino community. Initially he volunteered as a
healthworker in the SLHP screening clinic, but this experience had a profound
effect on him and he found himself devoting more time to helping the screening
clinic be more self-sustainable.
Robert graduated from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in 1979, and is
currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF, in the Department of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF, in the Department of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Meggie Woods graduated from Brown University with a degree in International
Relations and Latin American Studies. Afterwards, she worked for two years as a
bilingual HIV Case Manager outside of Boston. Meggie is currently a second year
medical student at University of California San Francisco. She spent the summer of
2009 in Kenya working on pregnant women's adherence rates to HIV/AIDS treatment.
Meggie started volunteering at Street Level Health Project in the fall of 2006 while
completing a post-baccalaurate premedical program at Mills College. She became
the Volunteer Coordinator shortly after, and in the fall of 2007 was asked to be
SLHP's first Case Manager and Clinic Coordinator.
Relations and Latin American Studies. Afterwards, she worked for two years as a
bilingual HIV Case Manager outside of Boston. Meggie is currently a second year
medical student at University of California San Francisco. She spent the summer of
2009 in Kenya working on pregnant women's adherence rates to HIV/AIDS treatment.
Meggie started volunteering at Street Level Health Project in the fall of 2006 while
completing a post-baccalaurate premedical program at Mills College. She became
the Volunteer Coordinator shortly after, and in the fall of 2007 was asked to be
SLHP's first Case Manager and Clinic Coordinator.
| Kevin Hur, Board Secretary |
Kevin is a Bay Area native who grew up in the South Bay. Currently he is a 4th year
undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley completing a Bachelor's
Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in neurobiology. Kevin
joined the Street Level Health Project screening clinic in September 2008 as a
volunteer and has been actively involved in the organization since then. His
experiences at Street Level in working with an infectiously dedicated and altruistic
staff as well as working with marginalized communities in Alameda County have
inspired him to find ways to empower underserved populations.
undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley completing a Bachelor's
Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in neurobiology. Kevin
joined the Street Level Health Project screening clinic in September 2008 as a
volunteer and has been actively involved in the organization since then. His
experiences at Street Level in working with an infectiously dedicated and altruistic
staff as well as working with marginalized communities in Alameda County have
inspired him to find ways to empower underserved populations.
With the help of another former volunteer and board member whom John met while in school, they took on
a personal challenge to switch from paper to electronic tracking of patients and services. Electronic
records allow the organization to do real time reporting on the services that the organization is providing to
its community.
John considers working at Street Level an honor and a pleasure. “The wonderful people from many
different immigrant backgrounds that we see and the small bit of support that we may provide are what
give me satisfaction at Street Level. Giving folks access to health care and some control over how they
want their health care to be performed is very empowering for our visitors. It is also really inspiring to see
all of the other folks who are committed and devote so much of their free time to keeping this organization
going strong. I’m happy to be a part of that”. John is currently a student at Samuel Merritt University in
Oakland, CA working towards a Masters of Physician Assistant. He enjoys coaching youth with Special
Olympics of Alameda, and instructing snow and water skiing with Disabled Sports Far West in Lake
Tahoe. He is constantly changing diapers on his newborn son and is an avid snow skier and cyclist.
a personal challenge to switch from paper to electronic tracking of patients and services. Electronic
records allow the organization to do real time reporting on the services that the organization is providing to
its community.
John considers working at Street Level an honor and a pleasure. “The wonderful people from many
different immigrant backgrounds that we see and the small bit of support that we may provide are what
give me satisfaction at Street Level. Giving folks access to health care and some control over how they
want their health care to be performed is very empowering for our visitors. It is also really inspiring to see
all of the other folks who are committed and devote so much of their free time to keeping this organization
going strong. I’m happy to be a part of that”. John is currently a student at Samuel Merritt University in
Oakland, CA working towards a Masters of Physician Assistant. He enjoys coaching youth with Special
Olympics of Alameda, and instructing snow and water skiing with Disabled Sports Far West in Lake
Tahoe. He is constantly changing diapers on his newborn son and is an avid snow skier and cyclist.
Kevin is the Founder and Director of the Hep B Project, which aims to bring free Hepatitis B services to
at-risk Asian and Pacific Islander populations of Alameda County. His honors include being selected as a
Strauss Scholar, UC Regent's Scholar, and Clinton Outstanding Commitment Award winner. Kevin also
volunteers at the Encore Clinic and does neurobiological research on the mechanisms of epileptogenesis.
He plans on attending medical school in the future.
at-risk Asian and Pacific Islander populations of Alameda County. His honors include being selected as a
Strauss Scholar, UC Regent's Scholar, and Clinton Outstanding Commitment Award winner. Kevin also
volunteers at the Encore Clinic and does neurobiological research on the mechanisms of epileptogenesis.
He plans on attending medical school in the future.
Andrew received his MD from Harvard Medical School, where he worked on health projects in Boston, the
Dominican Republic, Peru, Cuba, and Costa Rica. As a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, he worked with a
team of Costa Rican physicians and the International Office for Migration to develop a program that
brings health care services to migrant indigenous Guaymi workers on remote coffee plantations, with
funding from the World Bank.
"Public health exists in a global context. When coffee prices crashed in the late 1990's in Central America
we felt it directly in Oakland with hundreds of migrants arriving in just a few months. The traditional public
health infrastructure is often too slow to respond to this kind of emerging population and its complex
humanitarian needs. This is where grass-roots organizations like the Street Level Health Project can
have such a huge impact."
Andrew is looking forward to ongoing work with Street Level Health Project and a career in Emergency
Medicine, global health, and health equity research. "Street Level Health Project models an ideal
community-based health project, combining social justice, empowerment, and medical intervention. Its
ongoing growth and success is a great inspiration to me personally," he concludes.
Dominican Republic, Peru, Cuba, and Costa Rica. As a Fulbright Scholar in Costa Rica, he worked with a
team of Costa Rican physicians and the International Office for Migration to develop a program that
brings health care services to migrant indigenous Guaymi workers on remote coffee plantations, with
funding from the World Bank.
"Public health exists in a global context. When coffee prices crashed in the late 1990's in Central America
we felt it directly in Oakland with hundreds of migrants arriving in just a few months. The traditional public
health infrastructure is often too slow to respond to this kind of emerging population and its complex
humanitarian needs. This is where grass-roots organizations like the Street Level Health Project can
have such a huge impact."
Andrew is looking forward to ongoing work with Street Level Health Project and a career in Emergency
Medicine, global health, and health equity research. "Street Level Health Project models an ideal
community-based health project, combining social justice, empowerment, and medical intervention. Its
ongoing growth and success is a great inspiration to me personally," he concludes.
To Meggie, Street Level Health Project is unique because we understand that building healthy immigrant
communities requires access to healthcare, as well as empowerment, advocacy and education. Our work
addresses all of these areas, and continually works with our communities to strengthen our programs.
communities requires access to healthcare, as well as empowerment, advocacy and education. Our work
addresses all of these areas, and continually works with our communities to strengthen our programs.