In the Spirit of the Holidays

In the spirit of this holiday season, nursing students in the University of Hartford’s Project Horizon program helped serve food and assist with blood pressure screenings at Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp’s Friendship Center soup kitchen in Hartford. Project Horizon serves poor families and children with hands-on caring and education.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, Project Horizon students worked with the Charter Oak Health Center and Community Health Network of Connecticut Inc. (CHN) to distribute lunch to about 100 people at Friendship Center. CHN participated in “Adopt-A-Shelter Day” to provide free blood pressure screenings and to distribute hats, gloves, and socks to those in need.

The next day, University of Hartford nursing students also provided flu vaccinations for people at Hartford’s homeless shelters. The nurses visited the Open Hearth shelter, the South Park Inn, the Immaculate Shelter, My Sister’s Place, McKinney Shelter and Mercy Housing to distribute the vaccines.

The students are registered nurses working toward their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Through the university’s Department of Nursing, about 30 students work in partnership with community members in approximately 20 local homeless shelters, soup kitchens, neighborhood centers, transitional living centers, and schools.

Karen Breda, director of Project Horizon, said these students were finishing their semester by working at Mercy Housing and distributing flu vaccinations. It was a nice way, she said, to end the semester.

Brad Howard, outreach director of the Charter Oak Health Center, said his organization often collaborates with Project Horizon and it’s a good fit. “It’s all about people caring,” said Howard.