Docs Plant Garden at Crossroads
One day this past June, the Faculty and Residents of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital performed a Community Service Day at Crossroads Rhode Island. The joint project consisted of installing gardens in the rear area of the building and in the courtyard outside the Women’s Shelter at Crossroads.

As a clinical department, the Faculty and Residents wanted to raise awareness and create empathy for homeless individuals and families in Rhode Island who compose approximately 4% of the patients treated in the Emergency Department. In the United States about 7.5% of the general population will become homeless at some point in their lifetime. Many of the homeless and disadvantaged people use the Emergency Department as their main point of access to healthcare and social care. The Department of Emergency is training their Residents to demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of health care and the system resources available to provide care to the homeless population in Rhode Island.

The Residents and Faculty contributed funds to purchase materials for the gardens and worked together in cooperation with Crossroads staff to beautify the areas around the shelter. Clients currently living in the Women’s Shelter also joined the effort. Crossroads is so appreciative of the support we receive from the community. We are all connected and these types of efforts really show how much we can help each other.