Student led care package project to benefit HPC homeless patients, community
Guest post by:
Tara Sabih, Senior at Blue Valley North High School
Maria Masroua, Senior at Blue Valley West High School
Claire Dugan, Senior at Blue Valley North High School
Editor’s Note: Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) is a program where students can explore the profession that they want to go into, whether that be medicine, engineering, business, etc. Three students from various Blue Valley high schools selected Health Partnership Clinic (HPC) and will be providing care packages to their homeless patients.
Growing up in the Johnson County area and in the “Blue Valley bubble” it’s easy to be oblivious to the fact that there are many members in our community who are homeless. During this past school year, we have been studying medicine at Blue Valley CAPS, and have noticed that the health of the homeless in our community is a pressing matter, even if it’s not as clear of an issue as in other cities.
That is why our capstone project for our class focuses on the health of the homeless community.
The three of us working on this project are certified nursing assistants, and we hope to work in the health care field in the future. We all possess similar qualities such as wanting to be of service to others and having empathy toward those who are currently struggling. Because of these shared values, we decided to collaborate and work on this project that would benefit those in need in our community.
In February, we visited HPC and realized that HPC has great opportunities for people struggling financially to receive medical attention. We wanted to contribute to the work that HPC does for the community, so we decided to collect donations to create care packages. In the packages are items (such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks and soap) that could help patients continue personal care outside of the clinic. In addition, each package includes a card containing information about HPC’s clinic. We hope to deliver these packages by the end of April.
For our capstone project last year, we organized a drive at our schools to collect personal hygiene products that would be given to Giving the Basics, a local organization that collects and then distributes hygiene products to those in need in our community. We were able to talk with some of the people that these products went to; seeing how our project helped them inspired us to bring that same care and support to the homeless that visit the HPC clinic.
Our ultimate goal is that these packages will be delivered to someone in need, and that they make an impact, no matter how small, on their lives and overall health, as well as spreading the word about the services that HPC has to offer.
