CMSRU Outreach Alliance was founded by Savannah Steinhauser and Dante Terracciano in 2023 out of a desire to bring together resources to better meet the needs of the Camden community. Both medical students at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) passionate about equitable care, they were looking for a way to connect Camden community members to critical resources.
Savannah spent a summer internship with Bridging the Gaps working with the Living Proof Recovery Center where she attended outreaches around Camden and was inspired to establish similar outreaches with medical students to expand healthcare and connections between providers and community members. Dante, a practicing EMT-B, had been hoping to expand service learning and outreach opportunities at the school through his work as a leader on CMSRU Street Medicine.
The two joined together to form the CMSRU Outreach Alliance. As leaders of Street Medicine, they began by significantly expanding the organization and adding a new outreach with a single table offering food and connections to resources. Since then, we’ve established a team to consistently provide outreaches every week and expanded our organizations and partnerships. Today, we have our main weekly outreach on Saturdays at Atlantic Ave and South 6th St, partnering with Agape and Cooper Center for Healing to provide food, hygiene items, clothing, wound care, and harm reduction items. After many months of planning and organization, the Cooper Center for Healing Mobile Health Unit is offering comprehensive wound care on Saturdays at 1700 Broadway with CMSRU Outreach Alliance student volunteers alongside Cooper healthcare workers and physicians. Every Thursday at Broadway and Chestnut, Camden County leads an outreach with many of our alliances including the Center for Family Services, Maryville, CMSRU student-run Food Recovery Network, and Rowan School of Veterinary Medicine Shelter Medicine and Community Outreach. We have been steadily making connections with incredible organizations to provide the people of Camden with reliable locations to access resources and community support. We are always looking to expand partnerships that solidify lasting access to resources our clients need.