Outreach programs organize activities and events in the community to promote wellbeing.
Adopt-A-Pod
The Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) provides temporary secure housing for youth (10 – 17 years) who are awaiting judgment of their cases by the Cook County Courts. The overall mission of the JTDC is to provide detained youth with a safe, secure and caring environment with programs and structure that enhance personal development, improve opportunity for success upon return to the community, and decrease reentry.
BEET Chicago
BEET Chicago, is an urban garden initiative based in North Lawndale that works to bring empowerment and education together through the cultivation of gardens and community. A beet was chosen because beets are rooted vegetables. We believe food (from the ground #roots), community (the roots that raise you), and education (the roots of learning) are crucial, especially in the low-income, underserved communities of Chicago. The volunteer program provides fresh produce and school supplies to families. Volunteers throughout the spring and summer (mostly Saturdays) are needed to assist with activities like watering, weeding, planting, harvesting or supporting community events. Please make sure to come in clothes you don't mind getting dirty and bring sunscreen/hat/water as it gets hot. In the fall and winter months, there are opportunities to help with garden clean-up, harvesting, and delivery in partnership with the Grocery Run Club.
Buddies & Cuddlers
Buddies is a program that takes place in Rush’s Children’s Hospital in which Rush students do fun activities with pediatric patients, such as playing games or reading a book. The aims of this program include providing companionship to and alleviating stress of ill children and providing parents of hospitalized children a chance for a break away from the bedside. The Rush’s Children Hospital Buddies program occurs every Monday through Friday from 12-1 pm. Other Buddies events include an annual Halloween party with volunteers dressing up in costumes to go trick-or-treating with patients and an MLK day event where Rush students organize cultural activities for children in the Rush Day School and patients from the Children’s Hospital.
Chi-Care
Chi-Care is an organization that travels to underserved populations in Chicago, dedicated to providing meals, medical support and basic survival supplies for those in need.
Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE)
Chicago Homelessness and Health Response Group for Equity (CHHRGE) is a network of homeless shelters, congregate living facilities, hospitals, nonprofit providers, city agencies, advocacy groups and others who have come together to address the needs of the Chicago homeless and underserved communities during COVID-19. The CHHRGE Student Leadership sub-group is made up of inter-institutional health and graduate medical school students who work with faculty and clinicians on shelter screenings, testing, COVID-19 education and other initiatives to address community needs as they arise.
Community Harm Reduction & Outreach
CHRO is a community outreach focused RCSIP that provides education sessions and harm reduction interventions to the West Chicago community. We do bi-weekly opioid overdose education trainings/naloxone distribution at homeless shelters across the West Side. We partner with The West Side Opioid Task Force to do pop-up street-medicine style opioid education and naloxone distribution in the Chicago neighborhoods that are hardest hit by the opioid epidemic.
Correctional Health Initiative
The Correctional Health Initiative is an inter-professional organization focused on health promotion at Cook County Jail – one of the largest single-site jails in the United States. Our volunteers provide a series of weekly health education sessions to men and women detained at the jail. In addition to providing health education, we aim to foster awareness and understanding of the criminal justice system and advocate for the health and human rights issues related to incarceration.
D-HELP
D-HELP stands for “Recognizing that Digital Literacy is a Modifiable Social Determinant of Health.” D-HELP is focused on the provision of multimodal educational services surrounding patient portal navigation and accessibility. Housed within the Emergency Department at Rush University Medical Center, we aim to improve utilization of and experience of digital literacy surrounding Epic MyChart, the patient portal implemented across RUSH. Both verbal (i.e., in-person and synchronous) training and take-home educational materials will be offered in English and Spanish. Additionally, student volunteers will perform data collection and contribute to longitudinal research projects pertaining to the efficacy of D-HELP and the patient population served by our program to better understand community needs and digital health disparities.
Healthy Hood
Healthy Hood was created by Pilsen stakeholders to provide a shared space for group fitness and recreation to the underserved living in Chicago’s Lower West Side. Rush students have since expanded the services offered by Healthy Hood. Over the last three years, Rush volunteers have implemented a community garden, designed a nutrition/wellness curriculum, conducted bi-weekly health screenings, and hosted "Harvest Hours”— open gardening sessions when community members come to harvest their fruits and vegetables. The experience has become increasingly multidisciplinary and values collaboration with dietitians, nursing students, psychologists, residents, medical students, physical therapists and physicians at Rush. Healthy Hood provides a unique growth opportunity for future health care professionals. Please contact current student leaders if you are interested in becoming a part of this amazing community and creating a Healthy Hood.
MOMS
MOMS partners pre-clerkship medical students with pregnant patients receiving care at Rush University Medical Center. Students accompany their partner to prenatal visits to provide social support and act as patient advocates. After appointments, students meet with their partner to review clinic-provided educational materials, answer general questions and build a connection.
Movement for Optimal Vitality and Empowerment
MOVE stands for Mobility for Optimal and Empowerment. In collaboration with the Salvation Army's Freedom Center, our mission is to empower women with the tools and knowledge needed to prevent chronic pain and mobility issues. The program features educational presentations on MSK health and engaging self-defense-inspired workout classes, emphasizing physical activity and the prevention of chronic conditions. Participants will gain valuable knowledge and practical skills in a safe and empowering environment. By fostering partnerships and providing resources, MOVE strives to enhance overall wellbeing and reduce the prevalence and burden of MSK-related morbidities within underserved communities.
Neurodiversity Allies
Neurodiversity Allies is a student organization at Rush that seeks to create opportunities for future health care providers of all disciplines to become comfortable interacting with people with developmental disabilities. Students visit individuals with developmental disabilities while they are in the hospital at Rush with a focus of making their hospital stay more comfortable and helping the students develop communication and relationship skills.
Ohana Program
The Ohana Program is an interdisciplinary student volunteer program that aims to place volunteer companions for end-of-life or chronically ill hospital patients at Rush University Medical Center who are without family or friends at their bedside. The program is sponsored by the Rush Department of Internal Medicine – Section of Palliative Medicine. The role of the volunteer is simply to be present with the patient so that they are not alone. Time commitment for volunteers is minimal and scheduling is flexible for visiting patients.
POWER Walks
POWER Walks is a community initiative led by health care students aimed at promoting holistic health and wellbeing. Every other week during the spring through fall months, participants of all ages and backgrounds gather for a 15-minute discussion on a health topic, followed by a 45-minute walk in either Park 570 or Park 574. These free, laid-back walks promote physical activity; foster connections between health care students and their community; encourage meaningful conversations; and provide an opportunity to learn about and discuss health-related topics.
Rise Up!
RiseUp! Girl Power is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that aims to educate, engage, and empower middle and high school girls. We build strength in girls from the inside and out. We partner with local schools, community organizations and after-school programming to deliver our curriculum to girls aged 8-18. We build partnerships with corporations to then connect our empowered teens to internships and leadership development opportunities that will provide them with an agency to success. Our program is unique in that it was created by Elizabeth Yepez, MD, an ObGyn physician. The foundation of our curriculum is based on teaching the physiology and power of the female reproductive system. We use medical knowledge to enlighten Girls in the fact that their bodies are not only strong and capable but essential in life and society as a whole.
The Road Home Program
The Road Home Program helps veterans and their families by providing timely and confidential support, counseling, and veteran health services to help the veteran and their family understand, heal from and cope with the invisible wounds of war. Volunteers with this program participate in the intensive outpatient program (IOP) weekend outings to popular Chicago landmarks (like the Field Museum, sporting events, or cooking classes). Volunteers go with the veterans on the outings and welcome them to the city (many are coming from out of town). The IOP runs for three weeks each month and volunteers are needed the Saturdays the program runs, from 1 to 5 p.m.
RU STAT
The RU STAT (Student Transplant Action Team) aims to create opportunities for Rush Medical College students to shadow transplant surgeons. The mission of STAT is to enhance medical education, provide early exposure to surgical fields and create mentorship opportunities for medical students interested in surgical specialties. In the future we hope to partner with other groups to support donor families, transplant recipients and to advocate for equality within the organ transplant process.
Rush Human Rights Program (RHRP)
The Rush Human Rights Program (RHRP) seeks to advocate for and provide patient care and support to the immigrant, refugee and undocumented patient populations in Chicago. RHRP collaborates with community partners to give students an opportunity to interact with and provide direct patient care to these patient populations. Advocacy efforts include working with Rush curriculum heads to educate future health care providers about the health care barriers and needs of these communities and empower active participation to address these disparities.
Rush Stroke Force
The Rush Stroke Force is a community outreach program created and run by students at Rush University along with physicians and residents in the neurology department at Rush University Medical Center. The group's purpose is to educate communities around Chicago about the risk factors and symptoms of stroke, the no. 1 cause of adult disability in the United States. The best way to reduce the incidence of stroke is prevention. However, recognizing a stroke quickly can have an immense impact on the treatment and recovery processes. If an ischemic stroke is diagnosed in a hospital within three hours of onset, a specific treatment can be initiated that can further reduce brain damage and prevent further functional deficits. By empowering people to take control of their health and quickly identify pertinent signs of stroke it allows them to educate their family, friends and neighbors as we work together to combat this severe disease.
Rush 9-1-1
Rush 9-1-1 is a volunteer-based program that educates and raises awareness for pre-hospital health care throughout underserved Chicago communities. We provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), choking, autoinjectors and bleeding management training through a fun, interactive one hour class. Our goal is to significantly increase the number of Chicagoans capable of providing emergency care specifically within neighborhoods lacking adequate resources and access to health care. Interested Rush students will become proficient in several areas of prehospital emergency medicine and learn how to lead health care education classes.