Nearly 150 medical students, faculty and family members will participate in the Saturday, April 12, Spring House Calls. Volunteers provide home and lawn maintenance for elderly, disabled and minority homeowners in two inner-city neighborhoods located near the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.
The volunteers will gather at 9 a.m. at the Christamore House Family and Community Center, 502 N. Tremont Street, to collect supplies and receive their assignments. Planting flowers, providing minor exterior property maintenance and performing yard work are among some of the tasks to help homeowners beautify the near-Westside neighborhoods of Haughville and Blackburn.
After completing their tasks at more than 30 homes during the morning, participants will join the homeowners for lunch, provided by Judge’s Tip of the Rib Restaurant, at the Christamore House. A second contribution from Eli Lilly & Company helped the students purchase flowers and supplies.
The project is sponsored by the Office of Medical Service-Learning which promotes a lifelong commitment to community service through innovative service-learning experiences. Spring House Calls has become the largest and oldest service-learning project of the OMSL. The second-year medical students co-chairing the project are Zach Tempel, Ray Ramirez, Ben Northcutt, Kaitlin Rice, Alejandro Miranda and Ben Redmon.