Student Article: The Seeds that We are Growing

By Rebecca Zapatta, OMS-I

I watched as my mom got out of the car and walked towards the dumpster behind the 7-Eleven. My eight-year-old eyes widened as she approached an
elderly man who was trying to stay warm. She bent down, handed him a blanket, and then spent a few minutes talking with him. When she came back to the car, she turned to my brothers and me and said we were going home to get a few things. We came back 30 minutes later with food and some of my dad’s winter clothing, and this time we all got out of the car.

These were among the most formative moments of my childhood. Through my mom’s family organization, Operation Hope, we were able to serve those most in need in our community along the Texas-Mexico border. The mission was simple. As my mom put it, “Although we are aware that we can only do so much, it still makes a difference in our hearts and lives when we give someone that little bit of love and hope. I guess you can say that these are the seeds that we are growing.”

We provided clothing and supplies for women and children living in domestic abuse shelters, visited elderly people without family at our local nursing home, and did various donation drives for those experiencing homelessness. Being exposed to suffering at a young age permeated my personality and embedded a deep desire to help others. It eventually led to my passion for medicine and social justice.

Growing up in Laredo, Texas, an underserved community, further fueled my pursuit of this journey. Many in my hometown face obstacles in securing quality primary and specialty care. There is also a huge need for mental health and addiction services. According to the Texas Health Institute, overdose rates have doubled in the last two decades.¹ Up until recently, there were no detox facilities and few halfway homes within the community.² As of February 2024, there is only one new detox facility that serves a population of over 250,000 people.

These barriers have affected hundreds of families, including my own. When loved ones began struggling with substance
abuse and mental health disorders, I saw how detrimental hindrances to medical services can be. I also learned how my Latino culture introduced an additional hurdle to receiving care. For instance, the “machismo” belief often keeps men from seeking help and reinforces stigmas by associating mental illness as a weakness or character flaw.

The disparities in my hometown aren’t singular; they’re the reality for many people across the United States. The homeless community is perhaps the hardest hit of all. This population has higher rates of disease and a shorter life expectancy. They also experience increasing incidences of substance abuse and mental illness.

Additionally, the stigmatization of people experiencing homelessness exacerbates their conditions. The article “Tackling Health Disparities for People Who are
Homeless? Start with Social Determinants” discusses how many unhoused people have gone through traumatic life experiences that health services aren’t able to address.³ This leads to a delay in seeking help, with most people waiting until their conditions are severe.

This knowledge, along with my life experiences and journey in medicine, have led me to street medicine. It is at the intersection of health, disease, culture, and society, and it’s a path that is rooted in the values my mother instilled in me.

When I met Madison Stevens last July during orientation for our first year as medical students, we talked about our common interest in serving unsheltered people as future physicians. A few months later, along with Angelica Washington and Sydney Diep, who are also first year medical students at TCOM, we created the Street Medicine Student Coalition at UNTHSC.

Our goal is to make a meaningful impact in the unhoused community in Fort Worth by meeting people where they are. We are working on creating relationships with other organizations and health providers to set up street medicine rounds. While we develop that, we are holding donation drives and panel discussions and attending a street medicine conference in May 2024.

We hope that by addressing the unique needs and circumstances facing those that experience homelessness, we will be able to reduce the barriers to care and connect people with resources in the community.
As my mom said, there are limitations to our capabilities when it comes to serving others, but we do possess the ability to cultivate the seeds of compassion and social justice. By nurturing these seeds, we make a difference not only in our own garden, but in communities beyond Fort Worth.

References:

1. “Texas Overdose Data to Action,” Texas DSHS, https://www.dshs.texas.gov/injury-prevention/texas-overdose-data-action. “City of Laredo 2022-2023 Community Health Needs Assessment,”
2. Texas Health Institute, May 5, 2023, https://texashealthinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/05-31-2023-Laredo-CHNA.pdf.
3. Stafford, Amanda and Lisa Wood, “Tackling Health Disparities for People Who Are Homeless? Start with Social Determinants,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 12 (December 8, 2017): 1535, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14121535.