Making the Rounds, Episode 1
As a fundamental right, housing security is one of the basic means through which people can protect their families and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, as the pandemic rages on and its economic impact becomes more dire, nonprofit organizations with missions dedicated to ending homelessness expect an exponential increase in housing insecurity across the United States. In this episode of “Beyond the White Coat: Making the Rounds,” AAMC Director of Community Engagement Clarence Fluker sits down with Lara Pukatch, director of advocacy at Miriam’s Kitchen, to talk about the connection between housing, health, and health care and how academic medicine can lend its strengths to the fight against homelessness.
Episode Guest:
Lara Pukatch is the director of advocacy at Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending long-term homelessness in Washington, D.C. She has over 15 years of experience as a policy and advocacy professional with expertise in empowering vulnerable populations, leading coalitions, and facilitating large-scale institutional change. Lara chairs the Way Home Campaign, an advocacy movement to end chronic homelessness, and also oversees Miriam’s Kitchen’s work to ensure that individuals with lived experience of homelessness are true drivers of the change they wish to see in their city.
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You Might Also Be Interested In:
- Miriam’s Kitchen
- “Miriam’s Kitchen Provides Food for DC Homeless Community” (NBC Washington)
- “Housing is Healthcare” (Street Sense)
- “‘A Pileup of Inequities’: Why People of Color Are Hit Hardest by Homelessness” (The Pew Charitable Trusts)
- “‘Two Sides Of The Same Coin’: Addressing The Link Between Racism And Homelessness” (DCist/WAMU 88.5)
- “Putting a Roof Over Patients’ Heads” (AAMCNews)