RPCV Health Crusade Support Program

RPCV Health Crusade challenged ourselves to come up with a Support Program that is helpful and useful to the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) community. We know that the needs of the community can change at any given time. So we decided that our support program and options will also be fluid adapting to the perceived needs of the PC Community.

Be sure to keep us posted with your thoughts and input through one of our surveys or as direct feedback. While we welcome your stories and comments, we may not able to assist in individual situations. But, we may be able to add your expectations and experiences to our overall efforts.

In some instances, RPCV Health Crusade may even ask the hard questions on your behalf to Peace Corps on health questions. Our focus is to work with Peace Corps to maximize options and facilitate resolutions.

To adjust to the changing needs of the RPCV community, we will adjust our support program and its initiatives accordingly. We may cancel a program or initiative if we believe that it has accomplished its purpose, no longer has the needed value, or if we are not able to continue supporting it. Additionally, we will also try to periodically post articles to share information and support the PC community’s needs and interests.

RPCV Health Crusade is collecting support resources that could be helpful to applicants, PCVs, and RPCVs. We are not trying to list every option in cyberspace. Instead, we are trying to find those gems that could be important or helpful to PCVs and RPCVs.

Even though our main focus is on RPCVs, a lot of our collected resources can be helpful and even beneficial to the general public.

Our list of resources are focused on health information and support. We will try to weed out the ones that are mainly advocacy-based or financially driven.

These collected support resources will change and grow as we learn more information through our efforts and from other RPCVs sharing their own helpful tips.

We know there is a uniqueness to Peace Corps service. There could bring a lot of fun and mystery to the experience. It could also bring some unexpected challenges.

Some of those challenges result in health concerns. And some could escalate to the point of PCVs leaving service. But many RPCVs have great tips and tricks to navigate service.

We have been there. But there hasn’t been a single place to capture and organize these health tips…until now. RPCV Health Crusade decided to create that space.

We only have the tip of the iceberg. Can you help us collect more health lessons learned so that the PCVs have a smoother and healthier path in service.

There are times where RPCVs need the support of other RPCVs. There are many unique nuances of being a PCV and RPCV. We understand the lingo. We recognize the environment. And, we have experienced many of those same challenges.

The RPCV Health Crusade virtual peer support sessions offer RPCVs a safe supportive space to work through their concerns, confusion, and challenges.

The participants can find validation and support for their concerns. And the group participants are expected to respect the private stories shared within the group.

These are not formal therapy sessions. RPCVs facilitate these sessions as peers. While there may be participants with a professional health background in every virtual peer support session, their participation is first and foremost as RPCVs and peers.

RPCV Health Crusade recognizes that disabilities and other health challenges can significantly add to the burden of getting to the polls or ballot drop-off locations. So we launched the Help RPCVs Vote Initiative to help remove some of the hurdles.

We worked hard to locate or arrange for options on free or low cost ways to safely get to the polls. Many of the located codes or options are available to all RPCVs as well as their friends and families.

We will try to notate any codes specifically for people with disabilities or medical needs. Please help protect these options by not misusing
them.

We collected options to help RPCVs get to the polls all across the country. There are some national resources. We included state, city, and local options.

This initiative is currently on hold until the next election and only if more RPCVs join the effort to locate those needed resources.