About STREET MED STL
About Us:
We believe that all people deserve compassionate care – no matter their circumstances.
Our mission is to mitigate the health-related harms of being unhoused by meeting people where they are, in their reality.
By practicing radical acceptance, we hope to put relationships at the center of the care we provide.
Our Origin:
In 2020, in response to the COVID public health crisis, several doctors started going into the community to see homeless patients. Over the course of several years this turned into a weekly medical outreach. In 2022, it became a formal organization called Street Medicine St. Louis.
Street Medicine St. Louis is a collective of health professionals and community members providing healthcare to unstably housed people, outside the walls of clinics and hospitals. By meeting people where they are, we hope to build a bridge to people who have been left behind by the traditional healthcare system. Our low barrier care is rooted in harm reduction and delivered in the form of street outreach, pop-up clinics, and partnerships with other community organizations. Street Med STL provides an innovative infrastructure to plug providers in where they are needed most, regardless of their hospital affiliation/specialty. We believe in radical empathy, big love, and better healthcare.
Background
The St. Louis region has faced overlapping epidemics of homelessness, substance use, and drug-use related harms. Thousands of people in the St. Louis region are living without housing, often in tents and vacant buildings. Each day these unhoused people experience the severe health consequences of their homelessness. The state of Missouri, including the city of St. Louis, is in desperate need of low-barrier and harm-reduction focused medical care that meets people where they are. To fill this gap, we created an organization for volunteer health professionals to deliver care to those who need it most.
People experiencing homelessness face many barriers when trying to access the traditional healthcare system, which perpetuates structural inequities and contributes to poor health outcomes. There has been increasing recognition that medical outreach to people experiencing homelessness can help to connect them to care and mitigate some of the health harms of homelessness. This model of care, referred to as “street medicine,” is a movement to provide care to people experiencing homelessness, outside the walls of clinics and hospitals.
Examples of provided services include wound care, health advice, provision of prescriptions (e.g., antibiotics, inhalers, hepatitis treatment, addiction treatment, etc.), and linkage to more advanced medical care as needed. Our volunteers have helped patients navigate emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and post-hospital discharge care. Since its formation, Street Medicine St. Louis has provided medical care for hundreds of unique patients.
This work is performed in partnership with our patients. We aim to be intentionally adaptive, based on the feedback of those we serve. We work with patients in their communities to build ground up interventions to meet needs identified by the group.
Three Part Mission:
- SERVICE – to provide care to the unhoused of st. Louis
- EDUCATION – to educate others about the unique health needs of this population
- ADVOCACY – to lend our voice to those we serve
Founded in
2020
Our Mission
To provide outreach medical care to unhoused individuals, affirming their value, dignity, and humanity.
About the Founder
Nathanial S. Nolan, MD, MPH, MPHE
Nathanial Nolan is an Infectious Disease physician at the St. Louis VA and Washington University, in St. Louis. He is the founder of Street Med STL. He completed his MD and MPH at the University of Missouri, where he also stayed to do his medical residency. He came to the Washington University in 2019 for his Infectious Disease and Medical Education fellowship. His clinical interests include caring for marginalized communities, including those living with HIV, those with substance use disorders, and those who are unhoused.
Get Involved
Become a Volunteer
If you’re a medical professional, you can lend your skills to the front lines by volunteering with Street Med STL, making a tangible difference in the lives of the unhoused.
Donate Today
Our work is funded largely through donations. Our generous supporters provide the financial means to purchase wound care supplies, medications, and supplies to ease life on the street.
Read the Blog
Dive deep into narratives and reflections on our work, to better understand the urgent need to care for our unhoused neighbors.