Mariah Quick works on healthcare’s frontlines
Ramsey County public health educator Mariah Quick pushes to improve environmental health education around the county through the Recycling Ambassadors Program.
By Tarra Snyder and Macie Gavic | Writers
Public health educator Mariah Quick arrived at work March 17 ready to launch a new volunteer program in Ramsey County, Minnesota. The atmosphere between her, community leaders, and co-workers was business as usual — Regardless of the newsreels, everyone had seen about the onset of Coronavirus. Four days prior, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency, urging all events over 250 people to be canceled or postponed. Two days earlier, the CDC issued guidance recommending avoidance of gatherings of 50 or more people. Just yesterday, President Donald Trump urged people to avoid social groups of more than ten people. It’s St. Patrick’s Day.
For Quick and her team, the transition to working with Ramsey County testing centers and essential services throughout 2020 was positive. Volunteers flocked to help fight the pandemic. Free, outdoor nasal swab testing events were made available throughout the year in locations such as the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. The county’s COVID-19 Racial Equity and Community Engagement Response Team launched a new initiative called “A Mask for Everyone” to ensure residents have access to cloth masks.
“Pre 2020 COVID-19, when I told people I was in epidemiology, people thought I was a skin doctor. Now, people want to step up and help.” — Mariah Quick, Ramsey County public health educator.
“Pre 2020 COVID-19, when I told people I was in epidemiology, people thought I was a skin doctor,” Quick said. “Now, people want to step up and help. Overall I’m just really proud everyone’s tried their very best to serve their residents.”
Quick is the kind of person who enjoyed learning about global warming as a third-grader, while other kids focused on James and the Giant Peach or Charlotte’s Web. She remembers spending time during her junior year of undergrad at Eau Claire University teaching other students how to properly recycle paper vs. plastic. Much like any person who cares about the health of the world around them, Quick is enthusiastic about environmental health as well.
“I don’t really reflect on myself as passionate and how it translates into different things. It shows when I am doing things like working with community leaders for my job,” she said.
This enthusiasm is expressed through the current organization Quick assists called Recycling Ambassadors. As an environmental health educator, she works directly with volunteers in the community through instructional training programs on waste systems, recycling, and environmental justice.
According to Ramsey County’s website, “Recycling Ambassadors agree to volunteer 20 hours annually to encourage each other to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
At least that’s what Quick hopes for.
“It’s the goal of the program [that residents learn and teach each other],” she said.
Last Tuesday, Quick held a listening session with residents relating to feedback given about programs. She was intentional, paying attention to every person like a professional chess player scanning the board for their next move. It’s all about improving; how she can make her instruction into a robust experience.
