Wichita State students and faculty worked to serve the community Thursday afternoon by putting their studies into action.

Working with Sedgwick County, the City of Wichita and local organizations including Comcare, KanCare and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, students from the WSU School of Social Work and College of Health Professions teamed up at Century II to provide services to the Wichita homeless community.

“This gives [the students] an opportunity to learn to communicate with other health care disciplines for the better good and positive outcome of the patients they are caring of,” said Jolynn Dowling, clinical educator in the School of Nursing.

This year was the second year students from the College of Health Professions took part in the United Way Point-in-Time Homeless count, an event that was created in 2004.

“We also partner with Guadalupe clinic and JayDocs to come together and do an inter-professional education providing height, weight, glucose screening and vision screening for the homeless,” Dowling said.

Students from the traditional nursing program, accelerated nursing program, physicians’ assistant, dental assistant and public health sciences made up one body of students, with a total of 100 health professions students providing basic health services to individuals in need.

The annual program is designed to highlight the need in the homeless community in the Wichita area. A collaboration of organizations work together to provide basic services to the community, including furnishing toiletries, clothing and information to homeless individuals.

“[This is about] identifying the lack in services serving the homeless population in Wichita,” said Amber McAnulla, a student in the School of Social Work. “We are here surveying those services so that, hopefully, the problems could be fixed.”

A total of 30 students from the School of Social Work worked with the community to further advancement in the homeless community.

This year marked the fifth year that students from the School of Social Work took part in the event. It also marks another large achievement anniversary..

“This is our second year as a coordinated team doing the vulnerability index and, last year, we piloted it for the federal department,” said director of undergraduate social work program Shaunna Millar. “It measured everything from physical health to mental health, what were the barriers and factors that led them to homelessness and what kept them homeless.”

The vulnerability index helps organizations and government entities who work with the homeless community more effectively distribute housing services and gauge mortality factors.

In 2014, Wichita was one of three areas in the United States that United Way chose to test the program.

Although some individuals have been alarmed by the service inquiries that are created, as a whole, the services provided by students have been well-received.

“Some people feel like these are invasive questions to ask — it is strange to have a complete stranger come in and ask personal, invasive questions,” Millar said. “And our social work students have the skills to break down those barriers.”

Both Dowling and Millar said there are ways for the WSU community to become involved, through volunteer work, donations and outreach.

“By offering this small bit of basic, compassionate and humanistic care, hopefully this may just be the positive thing to happen that could set them in the right direction,” Dowling said.

For more information about assisting the homeless community or information about the United Way Point-in-Time Homeless count, contact United Way of the Plains at 267-1321 or visit unitedwayplains.org.