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Alumni

Catie O'Reilly


Class of: 2020
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
School: College of Arts and Science
Major(s): Medicine, Health, and Society
Minors(s): Spanish

  

Catie’s interest in community service and outreach blossomed in high school from her dedication to an organization entitled Youth Rebuilding New Orleans. In her hometown of New Orleans, many public school teachers still have difficulty finding affordable and livable housing since Hurricane Katrina. After being personally affected by the hurricane, and being incredibly grateful for the public school education she had always received, she desired to give back to her teachers. Her passion for her diverse hometown community led her to continue service in soup kitchens, and public schools. Her upbringing in New Orleans built the foundation for an unwavering dedication to community service. 

 

During Catie’s first year at Vanderbilt, she explored her new home of Nashville through different non-profits. She had always seen her future as a physician, and after spending a semester volunteering for Siloam Health Clinic, her focus grew to international health equality. Siloam is a health clinic designed for refugees, thus focusing on cultural competency and providing support for incoming citizens whom may have had difficulty ever finding proper healthcare. After working weekly as clinic support, she decided to minor in Spanish, to improve her ability to work alongside and advocate for those with different experiences than her own. During the spring, she taught a bi-weekly art class at Room in the Inn, a holistic homeless shelter in downtown Nashville. By working at Room in the Inn, she expanded her volunteering experience and began a strong relationship with the organization that will last for years.

 

Outside of service in Nashville, Catie participated in a short-term service trip to Nicaragua with Manna Project International the spring of her freshman year. In just a short period of time, she fell in love with the community she served, and returned as an intern for a month that summer. As an intern, she helped run their clinic, taught an intermediate English class, an exercise class, a public school girls health education class, and a childcare program. Her work with the community of Cedro Galan, in the outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua, persuaded her to focus on international equality in basic public health. 

 

Catie devoted most of her service to Room in the Inn her sophomore and junior year, and plans to continue that relationship. She directed the weekly Friday art class and maintained a relationship between the organization and Vanderbilt University by recruiting new volunteers to participate in the art class. She developed a curriculum for a book club for the shelter to be implemented her senior year by focusing on the gaps in literacy and the services provided to this community. The summer following her sophomore year, Catie completed her summer project by working for The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, or FIMRC, in the small town of Anconcito, Ecuador. Her project was two-pronged and consisted of developing more reproductive health resources for the organization to use in their curriculum and creating a sustainable way to follow-up with children in their nutrition program. This included food diary data logging and working alongside the community nutritionist. Her project aimed to increase community education on how high the teenage pregnancy statistic was in Anconcito, and how sex education could empower teenage girls to make knowledgeable decisions regarding having children. Outside of addressing global health inequalities and the mental health of Nashville’s homeless citizens, Catie has a passion for the study of Spanish and all of the relationships she has built through the Ingram Scholarship Program.

 

Catie looks forward to her final year at Vanderbilt, and is incredibly grateful for the Ingram Program for helping her improve her service efforts. She is excited to continue making Nashville her home, especially through relationships with community members and striving to improve local inequalities.