Meeting People Where They Are: Addressing the Health and Wellbeing of Our Underserved Communities

This presentation features the work of Zumbro Valley Medical Society (ZVMS) in Rochester to improve the health and wellbeing of both our unhoused and rural community members by meeting them where they are and training future doctors to provide compassionate care. You’ll learn the key aspects of ZVMS Street Medicine and the ZVMS Rural Medicine Initiative. We’ll also share the nine components that we recommend for creating community-driven change, based on our experience in cofounding The TABLE, the Team of Advisors Bringing Lived Experience, a 15-member collective of individuals with direct experience of homelessness. The TABLE provides input on policies, programs, and projects and promotes community integration in Olmsted County.

Presenters: 

Beth Kangas, PhD, is executive director of Zumbro Valley Medical Society (ZVMS) and ZVMS Foundation, and director of ZVMS Street Medicine and ZVMS Rural Medicine Initiative. A cultural/medical anthropologist by training, she is committed to incorporating the perspectives of people with direct experience of the issues and finding ways to bridge the medical system and local communities. She cofounded the Team of Advisors Bringing Lived Experience (The TABLE).

Collin P. Johnson is a community health worker at ZVMS Street Medicine and cofounder of The TABLE. He has been an integral part of ZVMS Street Medicine’s efforts to engage people with direct experience of homelessness since October 2023, participating in a community engagement studio and two co-design projects. In his work, Collin draws on his experience of being homeless for three years in Rochester. He cofounded the Team of Advisors Bringing Lived Experience (The TABLE).

Minnesota GO Transportation Vision Update

Minnesota’s transportation vision recognizes that transportation is not an end in itself but is a means to other ends. Our state vision sets the tone for all other transportation planning in the state of Minnesota. MnDOT seeks your input and help putting out the word! For more information and to take the survey, click here.

Presenter:

Whitney SD Mason

Minnesota GO Vision Update Project Manager

Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan Coordinator

Office of Transportation System Management

Minnesota Department of Transportation

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MPHA Health Equity Committee meetings are scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of the month from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Currently all meetings are virtual. Meetings are open to MPHA members and non-members who want to learn more and take action on advancing health equity in Minnesota. 

For more information about the Health Equity Committee,  please email healthequity@mpha.net and we will get back to you! The committee is co-chaired by Madison Anderson, Erica Fishman, and Sara Rogers.