Bethany House Services

Jasmine Prince, Summer 2018

I decided to pursue a career in medicine because it offered a coupling of my love for science and my love for people. In my mind, there is no better way to serve someone than by meeting their specific needs. Physicians have the immense privilege of being trusted at very vulnerable times in people's lives and that great responsibility is so humbling and attractive to me. We all know that medical school requires a lot of studying and learning before you can begin seeing patients. In light of the year of preparation that the first year of medical school required of me, I knew I needed to spend my summer around people, serving them, and reminding myself why I was so passionate about medicine. I chose Urban Health Project for this very reason. I wanted to be out in the community in which I would be serving patients in the future. I wanted to speak with them, hear their stories, be able to offer whatever help I could, and allow myself to learn more about the community around me.

Bethany House turned out to be the perfect place to meet all my expectations for the summer. They are a shelter that houses families experiencing homelessness. Each family is paired with a case manager that works to help them find sustainable housing and meet all of their needs while in shelter. At Bethany House, I was met with a staff of people who embody the type of care I want to offer my patients. I learned so much from their compassion and true selflessness. I had the opportunity to work alongside Rachel Podell in developing a curriculum to encourage healthy habits surrounding pregnancy. We used the literature to identify topics that homeless women may be lacking education on, and then we used a survey to verify that those topics could use more education amongst the population at Bethany House. We taught classes on contraception, smoking cessation, and stress management during the life skills classes that are held at the shelter each week. We wrote a curriculum for each class that included a lesson plan, a powerpoint presentation, an activity, and a summary handout. We compiled each class into a binder and left them with the life skills facilitator at BHS to continue the classes in the future. The effectiveness of each class was gauged with a pre-survey and post-survey given to each of the class attendants. Each class was small, so we were able to have one-on-one conversations with people in hopes of better understanding their circumstances and the obstacles that they personally face.