GV partners with MSU, GRCC to teach “street medicine”

The Grand Valley State University DeVos Center is hosting Beth Makowski, DO, medical director for Michigan State University- Grand Rapids Street Medicine to talk about how to provide healthcare to people that may not commonly have access to it.

The homeless community is some of the most in-need and vulnerable demographics in the country, meaning they are not only more susceptible to health ailments but often lack the necessary pillars to establish basic security and quality of life. The event will teach attendees about the foundation of homelessness and the reaching impact it has on individuals’ health.

According to the National Healthcare for the Homeless council, “street medicine” is the practice of “providing medical care to unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in locations like encampments, parks, and under bridges.”

The development of street medicine is a movement that brings healthcare to communities that are unsheltered in a capacity that is most effective. There are often challenges due to differing state Medicaid policies and other administrative barriers, but street medicine “fills an important gap in the safety net and is often the only care this population is able to access.”

Street medicine can address those health needs on the front lines, specifically within Grand Rapids. The meeting, hosted in conjunction with medical students Christa Schafer and Victoria Moaddel, will address the homelessness efforts citywide and better communicate the importance of providing necessary services to those vulnerable communities.

The event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by MSU College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids Community College, and GVSU.

Jamestown voters finally approve library funding

The Patmos Library in Jamestown has at last been approved for funding from the city in the most recent local elections on Nov. 8. Following LGBT literary content controversy of the past few years, the library was not approved necessary funds by the city in the last two election periods.

The library had been surviving on from the donations collected from a Go Fund Me, with notable and sizable donations from globally bestselling author Nora Roberts.

Bridge Michigan said what made the difference for funding approval was a compromise between the library and Jamestown voters: labelling the LGBT content.

“The library board voted Tuesday to add labels to the insider covers of all books, giving readers a brief overview of the genre and subject matter. The labels would be copied from book descriptions from the Library of Congress or book-selling websites like Amazon,” the Bridge Michigan article said.

No books will be removed from the library as part of the compromise. The library has plans to continue the labelling process with all of the books on the shelves, and continue to keep particularly sensitive LGBT content behind the counter, available upon request by patrons.