Emergency Services Newsletter - Southeastern PA

Meet Our New AmeriCorps Team!

Jenny Mosher

Jenny Mosher is a member of the current AmeriCorps team at SEPA.  She is new to Philadelphia, moving here this past summer from Seattle.  She has enjoyed life on the East Coast so far, spending her weekends going to free events she finds in the City Paper and exploring the city on foot while enjoying the fall colors.  Her top three favorite sights in Philadelphia so far are Logan Square fountain (especially before they turned off the water and chopped down all the trees), the incredible mural at Broad and Spring Garden, and the Cira Centre building shining in the sunlight.  Currently, Jenny is doing casework at Red Cross House as part of her AmeriCorps internship, and later will work in community disaster education.  She is thrilled to be working at the Red Cross, and is thankful to everyone at SEPA for making her feel welcome here.

Katri Walsh

Katri has lived in Philadelphia all of her life. She graduated from Mount Saint Joseph’s Academy in Flourtown, PA in 2001. She then went on to the University of Delaware, where she majored in political science and psychology and has recently graduated in May of 2005. She is interning at the Red Cross House as a family services caseworker, and hopes to go to graduate school for social services. She enjoys exercising, playing sports, and relaxing with friends.

Jessie Helwig

Jessie Helwig, 22, of Stratford, CT is excited to be participating in 10 months of service at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Red Cross as a National Preparedness and Response Corps member.   She is a recent graduate of the University of Delaware, where she majored in political science with a concentration in journalism.  Jessie has always had an interest in emergency services.  Her senior capstone project at the University of Delaware was a critique and research project entitled, “Emergency Management in the United States: A Look at History, Consultation, and the Future.” She plans to attend graduate school and to pursue a career with non-profits or in the field of emergency management.  Jessie became interested in non-profits after volunteering in New York City after September 11^th, where she worked to help feed and shelter police officers and firefighters who were working on the disaster site.  Prior to her college graduation she found the AmeriCorps and the NPRC program and applied.  She was accepted to participate at both the Greenwich, Connecticut chapter as well as the SEPA chapter.  Jessie is happy she chose to work in Philadelphia and is enjoying city life. 

Simone Gasperi

Simone Gasperi, 22, is from Pennington, New Jersey.  She graduated from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey this May with dual degrees in biology and English.  She was on the varsity equestrian team and competed internationally with her own horses.  Her university published her thesis, “An Analysis of the Humanistic Ideal in Medicine Through Literature and Film” in April of this year.  Simone was also a pre-medical student at Drew, which is where she cultivated her dedication to patient-oriented medicine.  Eventually, she wishes to aid underserved communities throughout the U.S. and participate in Doctors Without Borders abroad. She is currently interviewing with medical schools, and hopes to matriculate in the fall of next year. Simone is interning with Heather Kennell, the specialty volunteer coordinator, and is thrilled to be in Philadelphia working for the American Red Cross.

Katy Sharp

Katy Sharp joined the AmeriCorps team this past August.  Katy relocated to Philadelphia from San Diego, California, where she had been working in the mortgage business for the past three years.  After watching the news about the tsunami, Katy decided to combine her lifelong interest in working in non-profits with her newfound interest in disaster management, and the position with AmeriCorps at the SEPA Chapter of the Red Cross provided the perfect opportunity. Adjusting to the Philadelphia weather and lifestyle has been relatively easy for Katy, as she spent four years in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale, graduating with a degree in history in 2002.  After spending the majority of her life in Southern California where you must have a car to get anywhere, Katy is thoroughly enjoying living in a city where you can walk to work and to the grocery store. Katy plans to split her internship time at the Red Cross between working with Craig Crosby in Disaster Services and working on the Bridge.  When not working, Katy enjoys reading, watching movies, long-distance running and spoiling her two nieces and twin nephews who live in South Jersey.  

Emily Speak

Emily Speak, 21, is excited to join the Red Cross as part of the AmeriCorps National Preparedness and Response Corps.  Emily recently graduated from Yale University with a degree in American studies concentrating in urban studies.  Emily is from Claremont, California.  Even after spending four years on the East Coast, she is still struggling to adjust to winter. During her time at the Red Cross, Emily will be interning with Craig Crosby in Disaster Services and as a caseworker at the Red Cross House. Eventually Emily plans to pursue a master’s degree in either public policy or public administration, but is currently taking a break from from school to explore different career opportunities.

Kisha Gadsden

Kisha Gadsden became a member of AmeriCorps two weeks after the program started.  Kisha was volunteering at the Red Cross House, where she was introduced to this program. On her first day  in the program, Kisha was told that she would be sent down to Mississippi for hurricane relief.  When she came back, she started her internship  in community disaster education with Mike Kiley-Zufelt.  She loves CDE!  Her education fitsl with CDE because she was a public health major and she had classes in with educating society on health issues.  CDE, however, mainly deals with fire safety and disaster education.  But Kisha feels that this builds her experience for when she finds a job that is directly in her field.  Other than her experience with Red Cross, Kisha is an outgoing person that loves to laugh, work with others,  and has a caring heart for the youth.  Her energy is in youth education and health education.  She plans to be a director in some type of youth health facility, even if it means founding her own facility.  She also plans on having a foundation for underserved youth in the Philadelphia area because she can relate to their situation.  Kisha wants her message to the youth of Philadelphia to be, that even though they might not have much when they are younger, they can get what they want, no matter what the circumstance may look like at the present time.  Dream your dream, bring it to life and the rest will follow. 

Brandon Ward

Brandon is a recent AmeriCorps member with the SEPA chapter. He has lived in the Philadelphia area for the last eight years. His family lives in Swarthmore, PA.  He joined AmeriCorps so that he could give back to his community and nation, and as an alternative to military service. Before joining the SEPA chapter Brandon worked as a risk management fraud investigator for Ecount, a small debit card company in Conshohocken. Brandon is a college graduate from Boston University with a B.A. in International Relations. He is currently planning to attend Catholic University in the fall of 2006 to obtain a masters degree in international affairs. After school he wants to work in the Defense or State departments on Middle Eastern foreign policy.