Last Saturday, Senior Public Health Sciences students, Hermon Welde and Kate Ridgeway, presented at the annual Alumni Science Conference at SCU. Both Hermon and Kate presented on the Senior Capstone projects in partnership with the Unhoused Initiative.
Hermon’s project detailed her work with the Unhoused Advocacy Clinic at SCU’s Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center. During fall quarter, Hermon and other senior Public Health Sciences Capstone students worked with the UAC, completing property claims for people experiencing homelessness who’d lost their belongings during encampment sweeps. Hermon and her colleagues outreached to impacted clients, interviewed them, and helped to prepare paperwork for the attorney. They also used their experience to develop a framework for a new Experiential Learning in Social Justice Public Health course focused on the criminalization of homelessness.
Kate presented the initial findings of the UI’s ongoing Wellness Audit project, in partnership with Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. The Wellness Audit assesses the impacts of being displaced while experiencing homelessness. The survey collects information about the impacts of displacement on a person’s physical and mental health, their access to resources, and community and social connections. Senior Capstone students administered the survey at encampments and service provider locations during fall quarter. The survey is ongoing, but the student’s initial findings show that encampment sweeps harm public health and safety, with 85% of respondents indicating they had lost items essential to daily living, 74% reporting a loss of connections to friends and family, and over 60% reporting experiencing anxiety, stress and depression as a result of being displaced.
Congratulations to Kate and Hermon! We thank you for your time and contributions to these projects and wish you all the best as you graduate from SCU!
The Unhoused Initiative at SCU 