INDIANAPOLIS — Three Indianapolis neighborhoods will get house calls from medical students Saturday during the 18th annual Spring House Calls, the oldest service-learning project at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
More than 100 medical students will fan out in Haughville, Blackburn and a near East side neighborhood to perform yard work and landscaping at 30 homes and the Neighborhood Fellowship Church, 3102 E. 10th Street, home of the IU Student Outreach Clinic. The student-led event targets the homes of elderly, disabled or minority homeowners to give them a helping hand.
This is the first year students have taken Spring House Calls to the near East side, where they established a free clinic nearly six years ago at the church. The Rev. Jim Strietelmeier worked with the co-chairs of the event to identify homeowners and to designate landscaping projects at the church.
The students will begin the day at 8:30 a.m. at the Christamore House Family and Community Center, 502 N. Tremont, Indianapolis. From there, the students will go to their appointed homes to remove weeds, plant flowers, mulch and perform other landscaping tasks. At noon, the volunteers and homeowners will gather at the Christamore House to enjoy lunch and a chance to connect and celebrate.
This annual event is coordinated, managed and conducted by medical students with support from the IU School of Medicine’s Office of Medical Service-Learning. Co-chairs of this year’s project are third-year medical students Braca Cantor, Ethan Morrical and Alice Cui and first-year medical student Meredith Faller.