Serving Those in Need

Whitney Cole spends her free time volunteering with Second Avenue Commons and the Pitt Street Medical Team, helping those experiencing homelessness in the Pittsburgh area.

Question: How did you get involved with working with people experiencing homelessness?

Whitney Cole: I was inspired by my neighbor, who had gotten her EMT license online. I have always been attracted to having the opportunity to help others, and I have specifically always wanted to help people experiencing homelessness.

Q: What did you do at Second Avenue Commons?

WC: Second Avenue Commons is a facility in Pittsburgh that is run by UPMC. It is a homeless shelter and has a clinic where I work and volunteer. On a day-to-day basis, I work with a mix of things like wound care, foot care, and specifically a lot of medication refills.

Q: Can you tell me more about your work with the Pitt Street Medical Team and how you got started with that?

WC: My neighbor introduced me to the people who run it, and it took off from there. In my first rounds, I was really nervous, and I didn’t fully know what to expect. I was told it was going to be more social work than medicine. It’s getting to know people outside and talking with them and handing out supplies. But we also do medical care, so there have been a few times I’ve taken care of people who had wounds outside on the street.

Q: Can you tell me about a time that you experienced support here at the Mount?

WC: During my freshman year of college, when I was doing online EMT school, I was a full-time student and an athlete on campus. I was very overwhelmed, and I had also lost one of my friends to suicide. I had a lot going on, and the Mount Aloysius counseling department really supported me. So much that they helped me run a mental health awareness game on the anniversary of my friend’s passing.

Q: How can we help those experiencing homelessness?

WC: We can have more conversations like this. There is unfortunately a stigma that follows people who are experiencing homelessness, so the more we talk about it, the more it is going to be destigmatized.