Welcome House of Northern Kentucky

Zoe Walters, Summer 2016

In addition to my work with the Breast and Cervical Cancer Project, I spent my evenings at the Welcome House in Northern KY. This is a homeless shelter for women and children that provides safe housing as well as comprehensive case management in the hopes of facilitating housing and job security. I worked in the shelter itself and had a very fluid role. Some days, I would act as an advocate for the women, connecting them with doctors or insurance. Other days, I helped them make decisions about their own health. For example, in the case of a stomach bug, should they go to the emergency department or to a primary care doctor? In this way, I tried to do my small part in decreasing unnecessary ED use. If they did have to go to the hospital, it was very common for these women to be discharged without much education, so I would walk them through their discharge papers and their next steps.

Additionally, I held stress management sessions twice a week in an effort to impart healthy coping skills. Being in a homeless shelter can be a traumatic experience for many women and children, so I wanted to try to minimize these traumatic effects as much as possible. I taught breathing exercises and yoga, held guided meditations, or just did crafts with the women. This time proved to be especially important because it allowed me to connect with the women about something other than healthcare. For the children, I held a talent show in the middle of the summer so they could show off their talents in an environment where loud singing and dancing was not usually considered appropriate. I also tried to serve as a sounding board for the women and children, letting them vent their frustrations in a safe environment.

My favorite part of the summer overall was simply learning more about these women, their lives, and the challenges they face. I am so grateful that they trusted me enough to share their stories and in many ways, I was impacted by this experience more than I impacted them. Learning so much about these women opened my eyes to their realities, many of which seem very unjust. It also made me want to be the best physician I can be in order to right the wrongs that these women face on a daily basis. They need physicians that are willing to advocate for them and take the time to give them the necessary education to make well-informed decisions about their own health. The Welcome House influenced me deeply, and I can only hope that I made a fraction of the impact on the women in shelter that they did on me.