Community Partner: Saint Francis Seraph Ministries
- Saint Francis Seraph Ministries (SFSM) is a nonprofit organization in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. The organization provides meals, employment resources, and connection to housing opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity.
- One of SFSM’s volunteer opportunities is Footcare for the Souls, a program that provides free foot care and hygiene to people experiencing homelessness. Volunteers work alongside healthcare professionals to help clean feet, trim nails, provide clean socks and properly fitting shoes, and identify foot problems that may need further medical attention. An underrealized aspect of homelessness is having to spend much of the day on your feet, which leads to wear overtime and seriously hurt your survival if compromised. Footcare for the Souls care improves comfort, mobility, and a sense of independence.
About Anish
My name is Anish Sharma. A fun fact is the first letter of my first name is the same as the last letter of my last name and the first two letters of my last name are the same as the last two letters of my first name. All of that is to say my name can be spelled in a circle as “anisharmanisharmanisharmanisharma.” I have stayed in Cincinnati since primary school and have grown to love the community here.
My main motivation for this elective was to continue the work I did in my learning community with St. Francis Seraph Ministires. I appreciated the concept of Footcare for the Souls and even volunteered a few shifts there. My plan during fourth year was to return to the Footcare for the Souls clinic anyways, but finding the opportunity to develop a project was even better. My plan for the future is to do internal medicine but be it in the outpatient setting or in the hospital, the time spent interacting with others is always invaluable. No matter how complicated medicine is with all of its advanced treatments, I want to remain grounded as a person and be aware of what is going on in the real world.