Alumni Spotlights
Gabe Feuerstein-Mendik
Bloomberg School of Public Health, MSPH '24
Tell us a bit about yourself! When did you graduate, which degree program were you in, and which SOURCE activities or other service/community-based activities were you involved with while a student at JHU?
My name is Gabe Feuerstein-Mendik and I graduated with an MSPH in Health Education and Health Communication in 2024. In my time at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH), I focused first on my activities with SOURCE, completing the practicum and diving into my work at House of Ruth Maryland, and second on acquiring extra graduate certifications, including certificates in Community-Based Public Health, Health Equity and Inequalities, and Health Education. Coming out of getting my BA in Public Health at JHU, where I spent much of my time in theater and group organizations, I was excited to really dedicate myself to the academic component when I graduated to BSPH, and I’m glad to say it has really paid off!
How did you become interested in getting involved with House of Ruth through the Baltimore Community Practicum? How did this work shape your experience as a student, and what lessons did you take away from your time in the practicum?
You know it’s funny, when I started my journey at BSPH, I would have never guessed I would end up working in the intimate partner violence field. I, like many others I knew at BSPH, came in with a wide range of interests. I had a million passions (restorative and transformative justice, health behavior change, advocating for marginalized populations, substance use, etc.), and I had no idea how they would be narrowed down. The one thing I knew tied them all together was a passion in community work and a belief that working with communities rather than for them was the best way to work within public health.
That passion was what drew me to the Baltimore Community Practicum! But as we know, “community work” itself is not a public health issue, and I still needed to pick a topic to focus on. When I read through the organization options, none really caught my eye except for House of Ruth Maryland (HRM), which surprisingly checked a lot of my boxes. I would be conducting research with their Abuse Intervention Program (AIP), which worked with those who have been abusive to an intimate partner by helping them reframe their actions as abusive and teaching them healthier relationship tactics and emotional regulation skills. While I knew nothing about intimate partner violence, the values this organization espoused lined up with a lot of what I was looking for!
When I started, it also just so happened that the researcher I would have been working with went on maternity leave early and I was left with nothing to do but observe and absorb myself in HRM’s work. I sat in on AIP sessions, assisted with tasks here and there, and learned as much as I could about the theory behind the work they did. What I discovered was a still nascent field where incredible work is being done and where there is so much more work left to do. I found a place where the work perfectly aligned with my passions and where the team lives and breathes those values.
This experience taught me a few key lessons. First, one of the best ways to find your public health path is to lead with your values and let your passions follow. Second, there is always opportunity to turn barriers (like being left with no researcher support when starting a new project) into opportunities for learning. And finally, when you find your passion, stick with it and don’t let it go.
What have you been up to since graduation? Can you share a bit more about your professional journey and the work you are doing in your current position at House of Ruth?
Since graduation, I’ve had many ups and downs, but I’m very happy where I have ended up! Unfortunately I, like many others who graduated in 2024, had some trouble finding a job after graduation. I wanted to dive into public health practice, but was running up against a dearth of practical experience to add to my academic experience.
In October 2024, I was lucky enough to get a second job at HRM working as a service coordinator in their shelter. I won’t lie and say this was not a challenge, especially doing this work with my positionality as a white, privileged man going into this space. It required a lot of self-reflection and attention to building and maintaining trust with my clients (I told myself when I started that I would never tell someone I could do something unless I was absolutely certain I could make it happen), but with the endless support of my colleagues and the HRM community, I ended up finding ways to make my positionality a boon rather than a barrier. Not only did this experience help shape my values and build my confidence in this work, it also provided me with the unique experience of working with both those who have abused others and those who have been abused themselves.
After a brief stint working for the Baltimore City Health Department (which ended quickly due to grant issues out of anyone’s control), I ended up in my current position as a Training Project Coordinator at HRM. I create and provide trainings focused on working with both survivors and perpetrators and on creating and running programs to work with these populations. I am also coordinator for the Intersections Project, a collaboration between HRM and Lifebridge Center for Hope (who operates 6/10 Safe Streets sites) aiming to increase our ability and capacity to help those who are at the intersection of community violence and domestic violence.
The piece of advice I would like to impart to those who are going through similar ups and downs that I did is to focus less on the specific job you’re going for and more on the experiences you are collecting to allow you to do your dream work. While I sometimes wish I had focused on the money and the glitzy jobs, I have ended up in a place where my ideas are really valued and acted upon, and where I have opportunities I likely would not have had anywhere else. I feel as though I am building a career, and I can’t help but point to my experience with SOURCE as the “source” for this career and passion.
Are there opportunities for fellow alums who are still in Baltimore to volunteer or work with House of Ruth in the near future? If not, are there any other community initiatives you'd like to share?
Yes, there absolutely are! First off (to plug my trainings a bit), if you or your organization is in need of any trainings (Bystander Intervention, Safety Planning, Dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence, Creating Trauma-Informed Workplaces, etc.), please feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]! Second, we have a lot of fundraising opportunities coming up, so please follow the House of Ruth Maryland Instagram if you are interested in joining us. Otherwise, I’m using this opportunity to share both our hotline for survivors (410-889-7884) and our hotline for those who may be abusive to an intimate partner (667-240-8977). If you or someone you know is involved in intimate partner violence, we are here to help!