Lessons Learned at Women's Lunch Place

Even though I was volunteering at Women of Means for only a brief time over the summer, I learned a lot about the challenges about providing health care to homeless women. I came to realize that the instinct to walk away from a homeless women begging for money on the street isn’t due to their appearance. It’s due to the fact that you do not want to acknowledge that in some way or another, they've fallen through almost every crack in society. 

The emotional, mental, physical, challenges that homeless women face seemed overwhelming to me. However, I was impressed by how effective the organization was in providing primary health care to these women and keeping people out of the ER. This experience, in combination with studying public health in Chile, solidified the importance of primary health care for all sectors of society for me. The organization’s attempt to minimize bureaucracy is another secret to what makes Women of Means such a success. The lack of bureaucracy allows homeless women can more readily access the health care system and in a more informal manner. It also allows the interns to practice interacting with patients in ways that they wouldn't be able to do at a hospital. I was also surprised- and delighted- to see the positive effects that the informal acupuncture had on many of these women. 

The challenges I faced working for Women of Means were mostly due to time constraints. First of all, due to the lack of time, I couldn't get to know the women at Women's lunch place as well as other volunteers. Also, in order to effectively provide medicine to homeless women, health care providers need to know what other organizations exist and what services each organization in the Boston area can provide. This is an overwhelming task and impossible to do in such a short amount of time. However, in many cases Women of Means is an effective gateway to other aspects of the medical system for these women. 

Arguably the most important skill I learned from working with Women of Means is learning how effectively communicate with patients as a health care provider. I imagine that there are many instances in which these women are ignored or discriminated against in and in more formal settings and in other sectors of the health care system. The enthusiasm, compassion, and respect Women of Means doctor's have for their patients is what makes Women of Means such a successful and unique organization.  

-Nellie Triedman, Summer 2012