By KARLIE SCHRIBER & AMANDA SY DE JESUS

---

 

Every Friday morning, Covenant House holds a Women’s Drop-In Center that offers numerous supports such as breakfast, clothing, and access to Youth Workers and Case Managers.

Youth (16-24 years) experiencing homelessness and facing barriers related to the social determinants of health are provided with a safe space. Numerous youth expressed their satisfaction over having a place where they could feel completely at ease and be surrounded by other women facing similar life experiences.

We attended these drop-in sessions for four weeks building relationships, getting used to the space, and engaging with the attendees. During our last week, we held an information session about safe pregnancy because it was a health topic that had not been done previously. The three main components of the information board were early signs of pregnancy, health centers and resources in the area, and a game with fact or fiction myths regarding pregnancy.

We used tea tree oil balm giveaways as a “hook” to incentivize them to partake in the game. Tackling pregnancy myths was a good way to gauge the different levels of knowledge and engage in health teaching. One interesting thing that was prominent was the lack of knowledge about safe influenza vaccinations for individuals who are pregnant.

We took this as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of flu shots for this demographic and the different resources available. It was great to engage the young women with knowledge that they were interested in! Not everyone has regular opportunities to seek out medical and health-related information. The information board and interactive game seemed to be very well received amongst the women!

Overall, we had a very positive experience at Covenant House, as it was a great learning opportunity to experience public health nursing in a community setting.