Carolina Arredondo
About Carolina Arredondo
Carolina was introduced to public health and harm reduction work when her brother invited her to volunteer at a wound and needle exchange clinic in Tijuana, Baja California. Through her volunteering, she worked with marginalized communities who use drugs (P.W.U.D.) and are at risk of blood-borne diseases, such as HIV and HCV. After this experience, Carolina became passionate about the work that can be accomplished through a public health lens with a harm reduction focus.
Carolina initiated her public health career by working on a program that focused on providing free primary health care services to undocumented children. After completing this program, Carolina was recognized by the Board of Commissioners in Lane County. Later, she joined the Communicable Disease Department as a Disease Intervention Specialist (DIS), specifically in the role of providing case management services to people who have been recently diagnosed with STIs (Sexual Transmitted Infections) such as Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and HIV. In 2019, Carolina was awarded the World AIDS Day Award by the HIV Alliance. During her time at Public Health, she also worked on the initial COVID-19 response, and through this public health emergency, she noted that minority communities, especially Latinx, were disproportionately affected. To address this issue, Carolina helped create a public health sub-committee for Latinx outreach that created recommendations such as support for rent, groceries, free testing, and targeted information in Spanish and other indigenous languages. Carolina also served as a Board Member for a local organization called Daisy C.H.A.I.N.