December 2025 Newsletter

Happy December! Welcome to the first rendition of the Street Medicine Coalition Monthly Newsletter. We hope this newsletter will serve as a place where volunteers can stay up to date on what’s happening across SMC and access important announcements and resources. 

Recap of November Creighton SMC Clinics

11/7 Harm Reduction – 14 patients

11/8 Phoenix Dining Room – 22 patients

11/14 Family Dining Room – 15 patients

11/14 Harm Reduction – 17 patients

11/21 Harm Reduction – 14 patients

11/22 Phoenix Dining Room – 13 patients

• Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who came out last month!

• We encourage PA and Nursing students to continue signing up for clinics!

  • PA students can now sign up for UofA street runs

General Announcements

CALL TO ACTION: SMP at Hance Park

• A proposed Phoenix city ordinance (expected for vote between mid-December and February) may halt harm-reduction services, food distribution, and administration of medical care in city parks. This will directly threaten Street Medicine Phoenix operations at Margaret Hance Park and the outreach endeavors of Circle the City’s Mobile Health team. The details of this ordinance and the exact meeting date of the City Council remains rather ambiguous, but we encourage you to consider attending the City Council meeting (possibly on December 17th, from 2:30-5:00 pm) to help protect access to care for unhoused community members. 

• In the meantime, please consider signing this petition to affirm that access to basic medical care, harm-reduction services, and food distribution in public parks is essential to protecting the health, dignity, and safety of Phoenix’s unhoused residents.

• SMC Exec will continue to send out updates regarding this ordinance and how you can help advocate for the health and well-being of the wonderful community we serve. 

• If you have any questions, please reach out to Karrie Lundstrom (karrielundstrom@creighton.edu) or Megan Shen (meganshen@creighton.edu). Thank you!

SMC Clinic Referrals

• For clinic volunteers who may not know, SMC has clinic referral pathways established for patients who have medical concerns that we cannot address at our SMC Clinics! We have multiple referral options available for both insured and uninsured patients for varying needs (diabetes evaluation, chronic wounds, prescription medication refills, etc.)

• Please read this guide on our referral process and keep it handy for our clinics in case you encounter a patient who needs a referral. If you ever have questions throughout this process, please ask your clinic leads or SMC exec for assistance.

Congrats to our new Wound Care Team Leads!

• Spencer Green, Hajin Sim, Ologia Ibrahim, Kristy Gong, Isabella Kessinger, Maya Schofield

Outstanding Service in Street Medicine Award

Nominations are now open for our semesterly Outstanding Service in Street Medicine Award. This award recognizes an exceptional student volunteer and preceptor whose dedication, compassion, and commitment to service have made a profound impact on both the organization and the individuals we serve. Please submit your nomination by 11:59 PM on December 19th!

Strike System Reminder

Strikes will be issued for:

• Canceling a shift less than 24 hours prior

• No-shows

• Leaving clinic early without:

  • An appropriate excuse

  • Notifying an executive board member and/or clinic lead

Consequences:

• First offense: Warning email from the executive team

• Second offense: Suspension from signing up for SMC clinics for four months

• Amendment to Strike Policy:

  • If you need to cancel your shift, you must provide notice at least 24 hours in advance. For example, if you are scheduled to volunteer at 11AM on Saturday, you must notify the head clinic lead (Abby Stoecker) and/or a member of the executive team by no later than 11AM on Friday.Our ability to provide high-quality patient care relies on the commitment and reliability of our volunteers, and we greatly appreciate your cooperation in helping us serve our community effectively. 

  • If you cancel your shift 2-3 days prior to the clinic date, please contact Abby Stoecker so we can recruit more volunteers accordingly. 

Executive and Team Lead Applications

• We will be releasing SMC executive team applications + applications for clinic leads and vision care team leads in January

• More details on this in the January newsletter

SMC Research Analysis

• Please fill out this survey if you have developed/completed a research project/scholarly activity via SMC (including MOS) or Street Medicine Phoenix.

Preceptor Thank You Cards

• Please find Megan or Karrie to sign the preceptor thank you cards by December 19th! 

Publicity/Outreach

SMC Website and Socials

• https://smc-phx.org/

• Instagram: @smc_phx

Spanish Interpreters Needed

• Reach out to Will Warner (williamwarner@creighton.edu) if interested in being a Spanish interpreter

• 

Photos

• If you have taken any photos or have any interesting anecdotes from street runs, submit here for our social media/website

• Santa came for a holiday photoshoot at the 11/14 FDR clinic! The kids (and us) had lots of fun taking pictures with Santa :) 

Volunteer Development

Sensitive Patient History Workshop with Dr. Williamson 

• Confirmed January 26th @ 5 PM, Rm TBD 

• Sign up here

Post Street Run Reflection Form and Volunteer Feedback Form

MOS

• For those of you in the MOS, another reminder that the course end date is Tuesday, December 9!

• We encourage everyone to sign up for MOS in the Spring if you would like to learn more about street medicine (bonus: first access to clinic signups) 

Please refer to this Resources Drive if you ever need to find anything SMC related! 

Thank you so much for reading to the end! We wish everyone a strong end to the semester!

Sincerely,

SMC Exec