Walmart funds new van for medical school's homeless outreach project

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Margot Schrire, (808) 956-6774
Director of Communications
Posted: Feb 26, 2014

Dr. Jill Omori, JABSOM students Lauryn Ando and Ellyse Tom with Ray Griego
Dr. Jill Omori, JABSOM students Lauryn Ando and Ellyse Tom with Ray Griego

Ray Griego, store manager for the downtown Honolulu Walmart scheduled to open in Summer 2014, joined Dr. Jill Omori, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), and medical students in Kaka'ako to see the Hawaiʻi Homeless Outreach and Medical Education (H.O.M.E.) project in action.

A $51,813 grant from the Walmart Foundation’s Hawaiʻi State Giving Council funded the purchase of a new mobile health van. JABSOM faculty and students use the van to provide free medical clinics and outreach services weekly for the homeless in Kaka'ako, Honolulu, Waianae and Kalaeloa.

JABSOM Dean Jerris Hedges said, “We are very grateful to the Walmart Foundation for the H.O.M.E. project’s new mobile health van. This program is truly a win-win for our community.” Hedges continued, “Our unsheltered homeless receive much needed medical assistance while our faculty and medical students learn valuable skills in working with an under-served population.”

 

For more information, visit: www.uhfoundation.org