CWC’s Journey From Helplessness to Hope Leads to Award, Community Recognition

When CWC Annie Eakin listens to the comments about her service to Monroe County, she experiences a disconnect: “‘The person who does all of that deserves that award, but that’s not me. That can’t be me.'”

It’s a fitting twist in the story of how Annie has carved out her own space in the world of health equity and social justice.

Annie, our state grant specialist and the CWC who serves Lawrence, Monroe, and Brown counties, was presented with the 2023 Haines Turner Peacemaker Award by the Community Justice and Mediation Center in Bloomington. Since then, she has presented to national conferences about the progress the residents in Monroe County are making in the public health arena and her role in making health equity a reality.

Annie was recommended by a community member for the Community Voices for Health project in March, 2020. Days later, the COVID-19 pandemic crisis shut down the country. Two months after that, George Floyd was killed in Minnesota, sparking civil unrest and protests across the U.S.

“I just felt so helpless,” Annie said. “Because it was COVID, I was sheltering with my family. At that time I was working with the U.S.D.A.’s food box, making sure I was getting food to the people who needed it. I had a friend in Indianapolis who was protesting, and I saw that and wondered, ‘What can I do?'”

Since she was working with the Community Voices for Health project, she started there, working with other like minded people to build a coalition to address public health issues in Bloomington.

Now, she is helping to guide the organization as it evolves into the Monroe County Health Equity Council. One of her roles is to “elevate voices to be heard by policy makers.” For Annie, health equity and social justice tie in neatly with NEP’s mission.

“Health is everything,” Annie said. “I am helping people get access to healthy food, but I am also helping them to get access to health services, transportation to reach that food and those health services, and physical activity.” 

“So many things relate to health. I feel like I preach to other people, ‘We talk about being a healthier community. We will be a healthier community when we make those things that cause good health accessible to everyone in the community.”