On the frontlines

ON THE

HEALTH OFFICIALS COMBAT COVID-19’S IMPACT A CROSS THE COUNTRY, doctors and public health “Core agencies are designated by your respective county to workers are overcoming the challenges of the novel provide all kinds of services: rent, housing, food, utilities, and adcoronavirus, and in some cases risking their health to vocacy,” Bruce said. serve their communities. Verde reached out to some of The core agency for San Mateo is Samaritan House, the core these professionals in the area and beyond to find out how their agency for Santa Clara is Sacred Heart, and the core agency in East work has been impacted, what lessons they’ve learned, and how Palo Alto is the Ecuminical Hunger Program. others can help out. v

Janine Bruce, a doctor of public health and senior research Oakland, California, Mike Lynn specializes in dealing with high scientist at the Stanford School of Medicine, wears many hats. She stress situations. Treating people who come in for a wide variety teaches Stanford residents and explores ways to provide services for of reasons, Lynn has to be ready for anything when the ambulance underprivileged communities. pulls up. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, these emergency

“When coronavirus hit, we reached out not only to our comroom situations have an additional layer of risk associated with munity partners but a wide range of partners like schools, food them. community agencies, preschools, to ask ‘What are you seeing and “A lot of times we don’t know what they have; that’s the defihearing?’” Bruce said. “Folks were worried about shelter in place and while staying home how they were going to pay their rent and how they were going to afford food.”

To help provide resources such as “ It’s really encouraging to see such great collaboration and continued desire across nition of emergency medicine,” Lynn said. “Right now with the COVID-19 virus it’s complicated because most people don’t present with the textbook fever and cough.”

Mike Lynn: Face to face with COVID-19 Janine Bruce: Finding solutions to pressing issues As an emergency medicine doctor in a trauma hospital in

“We’ve used virtual platforms like Zoom to bring people toa hard time sheltering in place. They gether,” Bruce said. “Now we have 20 different agencies that parare people who are dishwashers and ticipate. Word has spread, it’s largely updating one another on street cleaners and care for housewhat kind of needs we are seeing in the community, how things are holds and a lot of them have lost evolving. It’s really encouraging to see such great collaboration and their jobs.” continued desire across community partner agencies that want to Among those disproportioncontinue to work together.” ately affected are the homeless.

Bruce thinks that the best way to give back is to donate to “One of the hardest things is organizations that provide crucial services. to figure out where to send people

The population that Lynn serves food and legal assistance to those seeking community partner agencies is having a hard time dealing with the protection from eviction, Bruce reached out to organizations in the surroundto want to continue to work virus as well as the shelter-in-place orders. ing areas and was met with an overtogether.” “The peowhelmingly supportive response to the — JANINE BRUCE, doctor of public health ple that we community coalition meetings that are care for are held every couple of weeks. These meetings, intended to mobilize mostly people who are disenfranchised and connect community partners, have started up again due to from the health care system and don’t COVID-19 and were last held during the economic recession of have a lot of access to care,” Lynn 2008. said. “These are folks that are having

FLYER POWER — Janine Bruce (left) poses as she picks up boxes of informational flyers. The libraries volunteered to print them as a show of support. “We’re going to have to continue to work together to figure out how to help families long after shelter in place is lifted,” Bruce said. Photo by Janine Bruce MASK ON — Mike Lynn (middle) dons full coverage protective gear. He is optimistic about the future and what it may bring. “Hopefully we as a society can become closer rather than farther away as we weather this pandemic,” Lynn said. Photo by Jenny Lynn

frontlines

after we’ve seen them,” Lynn said. “A lot of people are homeless and you don’t want to send them back out to the street, especially if you think they may have the virus.”

Lynn believes that many lessons can be learned from this health crisis.

“I think many of these things are going to create long term changes for personal protective equipment and being much more diligent about wearing this in all situations,” Lynn said. “Hopefully we learn a lot from this pandemic, are better prepared with equipment and different types of rooms where we can isolate people, and hopefully much better prepared for testing as well.”

Katie Plax: Helping often forgotten youth

Katie Plax is the division chief of adolescent medicine in the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as well as the medical director of The Supporting Positive Opportunities with

Teens Youth Center, fondly referred to as The

SPOT.

The center, located in St. Louis, provides health and social service resources for foster children. Due to the instigation of the shelter-in-place order in the city, the everyday services and space typically offered to youth between the ages of 13 to 24 are no longer available. Because of this, Plax worries about teens who will soon age out of the system potentially being left homeless. “I have a very special place in my heart for youth in foster care,” Plax said. “No one ever thinks about them. Imagine if you’re a young person and you’re not living with your family and you don’t necessarily have a network of adults in your life, and you’re turning 21 and aging out of foster care in a global pandemic. While many challenges have arisen during the shelter in place, heartwarming moments make Plax’s hard work worthwhile.

“My patients have expressed so much gratitude, it’s really quite remarkable,” Plax said. “The other day, when one young person I saw was done with his visit, he came back two minutes later with this big bag of homemade masks that she [his grandma] had made that were all Star Wars themed. There have been these unexpected moments like that that are very gratifying.”

Plax encourages those who want to help foster children, or anyone else struggling during this time, to consider donating everyday goods that she knows would make a world of difference for the kids she works with. Items like shampoo, lotion, deodorant, menstrual hygiene supplies and more are in high demand. And even simpler than that, Plax urges community members everywhere to show compassion for one another.

“There’s one other thing that doesn’t cost money, which is kindness,” Plax said. “Being as kind as you can to people that you come into contact with — people need that when they’re really stressed out. A little kind word or a little encouragement, anybody could do that.”

Local resources like The SPOT include the Mobile Adolescent Health Services Program —

Teen Van run by Stanford Children’s Health. This group provides medical services and support to homeless and underserved youth. Also, The Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center works with young people located in San Jose to “... be the community’s premier resource hub and a recognized leader in promoting health, strength, diversity and inclusiveness.”

FOSTERING COMPASSION — Katie Plax (right) has noticed a change in her patients. Foster youth face many challenges and the pandemic caused additional problems. “A lot more distress, worries about housing, food, family members,” Plax said. Photo by Katie Plax