Back to Success Stories - Strength in Community: A Health Communicator’s Journey Forward

For more than a decade, one CDC Mutual Aid Fund recipient dedicated her career to public service—telling life-saving stories, uplifting partners, and supporting communities in crisis through several outbreak responses. Her journey began in 2014, when she joined CDC as a contractor in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD).

“For a girl who wrote her Master’s thesis on vaccine hesitancy—before we even started calling it that—it felt like a dream come true,” she shared.

Over the next several years, she supported national immunization programs, spent four meaningful years in the Birth Defects Center working on muscular dystrophy, and returned to NCIRD’s viral diseases division—where she vividly remembers hearing early news of a “SARS virus in China,” a moment that foreshadowed the world’s transformation.

In 2021, she became a full-time federal employee, taking the oath of public service—one of the proudest moments of her life. She joined the Global Immunization Division, contributing to polio eradication and leading global communication for measles, rubella, hepatitis B, cholera, and more. Her work spanned continents, outbreak responses, and partnerships with multilateral global organizations.

In 2024, she stepped into a new role as Strategic Communication Team Lead in the Division of Global HIV and TB—a deeply personal assignment. “One of my dearest friends lived with HIV for more than 20 years. He passed in 2015, but I know he was smiling from the other side to see me contribute, even briefly, to the global HIV response.”

Throughout her career, she supported emergency responses for measles, polio, and cholera; educated policymakers and health care providers; and disseminated critical science to protect communities. Together, these efforts reflect a career defined by impact and collaboration—contributions that earned her deep respect from colleagues around the world. As she explained, “I fell in love with telling patients’ stories and helping partners do their best work.”

Above all, she says, “I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most brilliant, compassionate people in public health. Many became mentors, friends, and steady sources of encouragement.”

A Sudden Loss—and an Unexpected Lifeline

Her trajectory shifted abruptly in April 2025, when her entire branch was terminated alongside hundreds of other public health professionals. In July, she endured the loss of her father, and just weeks later, her husband required emergency surgery. With only four years of federal service counted toward severance, she suddenly faced a level of financial strain she had never imagined.

The CDC Mutual Aid funds arrived at the precise moment she feared she wouldn’t be able to meet her family’s needs. The assistance covered half of her mortgage during a month when unemployment benefits were delayed—providing her family with critical breathing room.

“So many of us had our stability ripped out from under us,” she reflected. “The support from this community helped us get through October until my husband recovered from his surgery.”

In a year marked by loss and uncertainty, what meant most was not just financial relief—it was the reminder that compassion and community endure. “The generosity through the Mutual Aid Fund was a lifeline. It gave my family hope when we desperately needed it and reminded us that even in seasons of loss, there are still hands reaching out in kindness.”

She wants other RIF’d employees to know they are not alone. She hesitated to apply, believing others might need the support more, but learned that no one should face upheaval alone.

“The silver lining is that we have this beautiful community of people who have risen up. We should lean on each other—that’s what makes healing possible.”