Nina Robertson is a fourth-year in the College of Arts & Sciences majoring in global public health. Nina serves as the Madison House program director for Adopt-A-Grandparent (AAGP) at Charlottesville Health and Rehabilitation Center (CHRC), through which she works with elderly residents and other student volunteers to facilitate healthy connections and bonding experiences. Nina also volunteers on the Madison House HELP Line outreach team, a 24/7 free and confidential empathetic listening and referral hotline hotline run by students. In addition, she is a research intern at the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), a national nonprofit that aims to eliminate barriers of treatment for individuals with severe mental illness.

WHAT LED YOU TO YOUR SERVICE WORK?

I began actively volunteering in nursing and residential care centers in high school and knew I wanted to continue this kind of work at UVA. I love connecting with community members! Many residents at CHRC attended or worked at UVA and have been Albemarle County residents their whole lives. I am also extremely passionate about mental health and advocacy to destigmatize these topics that affect individuals’ everyday lives. HL and TAC combine many of my passions while allowing me to interact with the public in a call-to-action format.

Read the rest of this UVA Public Service story here.