Blog

Winter in Missouri is one of the hardest times for our unhoused neighbors. The unpredictable nature of Midwest weather means that a week of 60°F days can be rapidly followed by a string of subfreezing days. Currently, St. Louis activates warming shelters at 25°F,...

Street Medicine St. Louis is nothing without its volunteers. Each week, a dozen or more volunteers give up precious free time to join us on the streets, caring for the city’s most vulnerable. Just to give you a sense of the scope of their work, in 2025, we had more...

One of Street Medicine St. Louis's missions is to advocate for our unhoused neighbors. Street Med Volunteer Dr. Farrin Manian has taken this mission to heart, creating a unique regional symposium hosted by Mercy Hospital. This year, the second annual symposium was...

What does it mean to die while homeless? In modern America, this feels like one of the greatest tragedies—a result of communities abdicating their responsibility to their neighbors. This year alone, multiple Street Med patients died cold, alone, and hungry in their...

“I think you are the first doctors who have tried to get to know me,” he said, looking off in the distance. “Most of the time when I see doctors, they are so arrogant, telling me what is best for me. I don’t think a single one actually took the time to get to know me....

The past few weeks have brought a brutal heatwave across the US. Few people are more affected than those who live outside. Heat injury, such as severe sunburn, hyperthermia, and heatstroke, is a daily threat for those who lack access to indoor spaces and means to stay...

One of the core missions of Street Med STL is advocacy. We were recently invited to the State Capitol in Jefferson City to testify before the Governor’s Substance Abuse Task Force on the role of housing in substance use treatment. Our program director, Lesley...

Street Med STL is a volunteer-led organization. For years, we have relied on the commitment of our many gracious volunteers, from med students to doctors, nurses, and community members. Every so often, some of these volunteers have to move on for training, jobs, and...

Wren Hollow 3rd graders donate care packages for Street Med STL

The term “lived experience,” according to AI, is “the knowledge and understanding that comes from someone’s personal experiences, including their emotions, perceptions, preferences, and goals.” Another way of putting it, the Oxford Dictionary says, is “personal...