Eden works as the Community Health Worker (CHW) for BPI. She works with individuals and families from the African American community who have tested positive or have come in close contact with individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. Some of her duties include providing education on COVID-19 symptoms and prevention, emotional support, shopping for culturally specific food and essential items, rent/housing and utility support, and advocacy for access to other resources.
She has several years of experience working with adults with developmental disabilities, both mental and physical. Job duties included but were not limited to case management, daily logs, coordinating outings/family activates, employment support, de-escalation, and support with daily tasks. Though the foster care field is different from the work she is doing now, she believes her experience working with adults with developmental disabilities has aided in serving as a CHW at BPI.
As a Black woman, she feels she has a good understanding of the community she is serving and a good understanding of the systemic racism and oppression that has negatively impacted the Black community for generations, as well as the impacts of racism in the healthcare system.
Eden has lived in Portland most of her life (her family emigrated from Tigray, Ethiopia) and has had the opportunity to interact directly with the local East African and African American community and understands the current conditions facing these communities, allowing her to provide a certain level of care to the clients BPI serves.
