Bipeds of Brookland: Zack Poimboeuf

Bipeds of Brookland: Zack Poimboeuf

Zack Poimboeuf was born in Louisiana but, “I always kind of wanted to live in DC. Ever since I was a little kid when I came up here for the National Scout Jamboree in 1985.” Both of his parents were social workers, and he followed in their footsteps, graduating with his MSW and going on to provide direct counseling at a center for low income families. “I taught parenting seminars, and I started a program in a local jail for incarcerated fathers so they could visit their kids.”

However, Zack began to get restless, and decided to apply to the Peace Corps. In 2002 he began serving as a community health agent in Niger. While he already spoke French, growing up in Louisiana, he “needed a lot of language instruction because Hausa was the language I mostly spoke there. I was teaching things to people informally, family planning, nutrition and hygiene. I also volunteered a couple days a week at the local health clinic doing baby weighing and oral vaccinations. It was very rural, no running water, no electricity no toilet… The people there were really good to me, and just took care of me.”

He returned to the US in 2004 and began working for the Department of Health and Human Services on administration of the Child Care and Development Fund and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). He now works in the office of the Secretary as a Senior Risk Analyst. “We identify the things that could keep HHS from doing the things it’s supposed to do.”

Zack met and married his wife in DC. “We were living in a condo in Logan Circle and had two kids in a one bedroom condo.” They wanted more space, so were happy to find a house in Brookland, as they now have four kids. “We’re Catholic, and it kind of reminded me of home. It feels like a little town and yet it’s close to everything. I walk ten minutes to the metro. It’s quiet, and people have a lot of pride in the neighborhood.”

Bipeds of Brookland is a semi-weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time. Article and photo by Tom Sabella