TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A student-led street medicine program at Florida State University is expanding its outreach to people experiencing homelessness in 2026. FSU’s Home Street Medicine Program is set to partner with the FSU Family Medicine Residency Program at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, which comes with a $2.5 million federal grant.
The funding will be distributed over five years and will support training and services across Leon County.
A student-led street medicine program at Florida State University is expanding its outreach to people experiencing homelessness in 2026.(Home Street Medicine Program)
According to the Tallahassee–Leon County Homelessness Dashboard, there are more than 40 homeless encampments in the county. The program sends medical and physician assistant students, faculty and social workers into these locations to provide on-site care, meeting patients where they are.
Program leader, Allison Justice said trust remains one of the biggest barriers between unsheltered individuals and health care, which is why the program partners closely with social workers who already have established relationships in the community.
“We address that barrier of trust by what we call trust adjacent, and we’re able to impact the community a little bit more that way and hopefully build that trust with them,” Justice said.
FSU’s Home Street Medicine Program is set to partner with the FSU Family Medicine Residency Program at TMH(Home Street Medicine Program)
The program most commonly treats wound care, skin infections and provides medication refills, often for blood pressure.
The new partnership will allow medical and physician assistant students to work alongside family medicine residents, gaining hands-on experience in street medicine before entering full clinical practice.
“They get to experience this before they are licensed and before they go into clinical rounds,” Justice said. “It helps them better understand trauma-informed care.”
The program most commonly treats wound care, skin infections and provides medication refills, often for blood pressure.(FSU Home Street Medicine Program)
Since 2023, undergraduate student involvement in the program has tripled, according to Justice. As funding and resources grow, the program is better able to keep pace with increasing demand and advances in medical technology.
A recent $6,800 donation from 100 Men Who Care will help the program purchase an electronic medical record system, allowing providers to better track patient care, document services and conduct research to improve outreach and outcomes.
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