Welcome House of Northern Kentucky

Rebecca Yeager, Summer 2011

I spent this past summer working at Welcome House, an emergency shelter for women and children located in Northern Kentucky. The shelter provides temporary housing for 35 women and children at a time. Residents of the shelter receive a place to sleep each night, three meals a day, linens, hygiene items, and laundry facilities. Upon her arrival at the shelter, each woman is assigned a case manager to help her develop a plan for self-sufficiency and get her life back on track. Most women end up staying at the shelter anywhere from a few days to a few months.

My main responsibility at Welcome House was holding bi-weekly discussion groups on different health topics with the residents of the shelter. The women and I discussed topics such as healthy eating on a budget, stress/anxiety reduction, depression and bipolar disorder, and exercise. To go along with our discussion about exercise, I held a Yoga class for the women. I also held a few spa nights in order to give the ladies some time to relax and gain confidence for job interviews. I also partook in activities with the children staying in the shelter. I had the opportunity to teach the children about healthy eating and proper hygiene. Many times, I would simply spend time with them because their mothers were exhausted after spending the day working, job-hunting, and apartment hunting. I was also present at Welcome House as a resource for the women. If they had basic health-related questions, I answered their questions as best I could or helped them research the topic. The rest of my time was spent helping wherever the shelter needed me, whether that involved helping make and serve meals or simply doing a few loads of laundry.

I spent 12 hours of my week triaging patients, shadowing physicians and nurse practitioners, and assisting with lab work in the Pike Street Clinic, a homeless clinic for men and women. The clinic is located a few blocks away from Welcome House and some of the shelter's residents received care there. It was comforting for these women to see a familiar face when they made a trip to see their physician.

Throughout the summer, I worked on my long-term contribution to Welcome House, a cookbook I put together titled "Healthy Cooking on a Budget". After discussing healthy eating with the women, I heard many concerns that eating well was simply too expensive, time-consuming, and not child-friendly. This prompted me to look into recipes that were quick, inexpensive, family-friendly, and required few pots and pans to make. My cookbook will be handed out to each woman as she leaves the shelter and moves into her new home.

I was truly lucky to have the privilege of working at Welcome House and the Pike Street Clinic this summer. I met some wonderful, strong individuals and had the opportunity to learn about the many obstacles they had to overcome in their lives, including obtaining healthcare; these are lessons I will always keep with me as a physician. My experience this summer allowed me to learn a great deal about the homeless population and has certainly helped shape me as a medical student and future physician.