Gabriela Olmedo: Success Story from The Hatchery
Meet Gabriela Olmedo, a student at Emory's Goizueta Business School, and a student founder in The Hatchery Incubator.
Gabriela Olmedo was inspired to create THRIVE Atlanta after working as an Emergency Medical Technician in Rockdale County, Georgia. After seeing countless “frequent flier patients” – those who often were marginalized minority individuals suffering from an unmanaged chronic disease – Gabi considered how the role of preventative health care could help individuals in her community combat the unfortunate increased risk of chronic disease development because of their socioeconomic status.
"This audience has a problem facing health disparities in the United States. Although I cannot reform the healthcare system in America to be equitable and functional, I can try to alleviate the stresses this population faces by providing individuals with the opportunity to control their own health and achieve goals."
She created THRIVE Atlanta as a volunteer-based organization providing unhoused individuals in the Atlanta area with access to preventative healthcare through education, recreation, and nutritional programming. At the time of her application to the Hatchery Incubator, Gabriela had already worked with over fifty clients across Atlanta area shelters.
Gabriela’s main goal for this semester is to get Emory volunteers into the shelters, working through THRIVE Atlanta to serve in having three fully sustainable programs running: The cooking class at Fuqua Hall, recreation classes at My Sister's House, and a combination nutrition/recreation program at Restoration House.