Two UF undergraduates are launching a collaborative project to bring healthcare resources to the unhoused populations in Gainesville and Pensacola by partnering with non-profit organizations and UF departments.
Ava Theng, a psychology senior with a minor in health disparities in society, and Tara Fenelon, a health education and behavior sophomore, were granted $10,000 to work alongside partner organizations to connect people experiencing homelessness with healthcare resources.
The students will facilitate partnerships between the non-profit organizations to help them see where their load can be lightened by working together, and the students will meet with community partners to identity their priorities and help develop and deliver needed resources, including hygiene kits, healthcare materials about preventative cancer screenings from UF Health’s mobile cancer screening connector, bicycle distribution, a community garden and job resources.
“One of our main objectives is to not assume what this community needs but to partner with these communities and to hear them out and to see what they’ve noticed about what their needs are related to housing insecurity in Florida communities,” Theng said.
The initiative includes partnerships with GRACE Marketplace, St. Francis House, UF Health Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (UFHCC/COE) in Gainesville, as well as ReEntry Alliance Pensacola and the UF/IFAS Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program statewide. These collaborations are crucial for building sustainable approaches that extend beyond the project’s duration, which lasts through August.
Lakeshia Cousin, assistant director of Community Outreach & Engagement for the UF Health Cancer Center, said the center is honored to partner with this project to help uplift and provide services for people experiencing homelessness across the state.
“Through our Mobile Cancer Screening Connector, we will deliver vital preventive services — including cancer screenings and healthcare navigation directly to trusted community spaces,” she said. “This initiative exemplifies how collective action can strengthen community resilience and bring dignity and hope to those most in need.”
She said they aim to reduce barriers to care, promote early cancer detection and support long-term wellness.
“We hope to empower individuals who are unhoused in Gainesville and Pensacola with greater opportunities to lead healthier lives and pursue opportunities for peace and stability,” Theng said.
The project is funded through a $10,000 grant from Projects for Peace, a grant program through Middlebury College. The grant program funds student projects that are “innovative, community-centered and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues,” according to the college’s website.
Overseen by UF/IFAS Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences assistant professor Melissa Vilaro, the project aims to address housing instability by focusing on both immediate support and long-term solutions. Vilaro is also a member of the UF Health Cancer Center.
“Unstable housing affects a lot of things like the inability to get a job, sustain it and attend doctor’s appointments,” Fenelon said. “We want to partner with organizations that are already in those communities and ask ourselves how we can help them achieve their goals.”
Vilaro said it’s rare for a program to fund undergraduate-driven projects, and it’s a testament to these students’ hard work and drive to help their communities that they were chosen for this opportunity.
“We hope to see a difference. When I look at the people’s lives we’ve impacted, we hope to see happiness with the bicycles they get, the food we teach them to grow, and overall, we hope we see a lasting change,” Fenelon added.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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