A first-year medical student at McMaster University has been spending her free time making skin-care kits for the homeless community.
Miranda Branyiczky has been volunteering since the fall of 2023 at The Hub, which is a drop-in resource centre in downtown Hamilton for people experiencing homelessness.
Branyiczky says that as she volunteered there, she saw many members of the community suffering from skin diseases and conditions.
She says she created the SkinCARE Project to provide dermatological care and resources to people in need.
“It’s an initiative that I started earlier this year, which aims to promote and support skin health amongst those who are experiencing homelessness in Hamilton,” she says in an interview with CHCH News.
“I found that through [my] research that 20 per cent of emergency department or community clinic visits are by people experiencing homelessness are due to dermatological concerns.”
Branyiczky says with the help of local businesses she was able to procure the resources to make each skin-care kit.
The kits include sanitary wipes, first aid supplies, sunscreen and skin moisturizers.
Packaged with each kit is an information booklet covering ways to optimize skin hygiene while homeless, and a contact list for additional help.
Each kit also has a hand-written note from a volunteer for a personal touch.
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