Called to Serve on the Streets

MedStreet founder Dr. William Mazzellan takes healthcare to the homeless.

By day, you may find Dr. William Mazzellan at Fairfax Hospital or a local emergency room in a white coat, smelling like soap and latex gloves. As a hospital-based internal medicine specialist, he treats everything from the flu to chronic illnesses.

At night and on his days off, Mazzellan still cares for the sick — but he may do so under a bridge, in an alley or on a concrete stairwell.

Mazzellan is the founder of MedStreet, a nonprofit organization that brings healthcare to those who are homeless in Alexandria.

Unhoused people may face multiple health concerns that people with consistent, safe housing may not worry about as much.

In the summer, people without homes may be outside in 90-plus degree weather, sweating, with very limited access to a shower or the relief of air-conditioning. In the winter, they may be shivering and wet. Year-round, they are likely to sleep poorly.

The environmental issues they face only complicate the treatment of other health concerns such as COVID or the flu, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, addiction and more.

It took more than two years for Dr. Mazzellan to get MedStreet up and running, as he navigated the complexities of setting up the nonprofit and then figuring out all the various business and health licenses, insurance coverage, mobile pharmacy regulations and more. (He hopes someday to be able to help doctors in other cities set up similar services.)

Mazzellan grew up mostly in the hills of North Carolina. He was exposed to the health care system early, both visiting a local nursing home and dealing with his mother’s illness and death when he was a teenager. He went to college in California, then returned to North Carolina and eventually enrolled in medical school.

Mazzellan said he felt that he was always called to serve. While he was in medical school, he volunteered at the medical clinic that treated those who were uninsured. During his medical residency, he traveled to Third World countries to treat people there. He now practices internal medicine as a hospital-based physician in Northern Virginia.

The Bible quote (Mark 2:17) that stuck with Mazzellan and helped put him on the path to start MedStreet was: “Jesus heard it, he said to them, It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick.”

From Trench Foot to Trust

Recently, Mazzellan encountered his first case of trench foot, also called immersion foot syndrome, which can occur when feet are wet for extended periods of time. (The name came from the doctors treating soldiers in World War I, who were fighting in the trenches and often developed foot problems.) The young man worked as a dishwasher during the day, where his feet often got wet, but because he was unhoused, he did not remove his shoes at night to let them dry out because then he’d get cold (or his shoes could be stolen).

Foot problems are common among people who are homeless due to a combination of being on their feet all day and sometimes only having one pair of ill-fitting shoes. But diabetes or high blood pressure from an unhealthy diet are also common issues.

While Mazzellan can help heal trench foot, distribute medications and encourage people to take advantage of available health and human services, it’s the non-medical issues that are sometimes the hardest to treat.

Two of the biggest issues Mazzellan is working to cure in his patients are loneliness and distrust. Mazzellan said that often, the people he treats just want to be heard, understood and feel a human connection. Many of his patients spend their days hidden under bridges or behind buildings, and often those who pass them on the street avert their eyes or try to avoid them.

“It’s a very lonely existence,” Mazzellan said.

Sometimes, the hardest part of treating people is being able to earn their trust enough for them to tell him their problems and let him help. He said early on that bringing his wife, Brandy, and his children out with him helped his patients see him as a person, not just a white coat who will judge and scold them for their choices.

Sometimes that means sitting in a park with his wife and child for a while before approaching anyone. Often, once he earns the trust of one person, they tell him about others who also need help.

This was the case with a woman he refers to as "Lady Godiva," who referred him to "Lady Spencer" and "Lady Chatterley" and others in the neighborhood. They were dealing with issues related to addiction, eczema and high blood pressure.

In recent months, Mazzellan has started collecting the stories of some of these patients and posting them on medstreet.org.

There is no shortage of need, Mazzellan said. Help is needed in the form of volunteers who can hit the streets with winter coats, sandwiches, clean socks and companionship to volunteer coordination, supply logistics and much more. To donate or join the MedStreet team, visit medstreet.org.