SMU's Health Ministries Bridge the Gap Between Communities and Healthcare
Bringing Healthcare to Places of Worship
Tanya Foley started her Sunday at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland early—not for worship, but to help transform the gym into a blood pressure screening event, known as the Dr. Frank E. Staggers, Sr. Hypertension and Wellness Sunday. Once services concluded, parishioners met with Samuel Merritt University (SMU) students like Foley to get their blood pressure checked.
“I’ve always believed in building bridges between communities and healthcare systems,” says Foley, ELMSN-Case Management ’25. “This event really brings the two together by tailoring healthcare to where people live, work, play, and pray.”
SMU's Health Ministries Program
This initiative is part of SMU’s Ethnic Health Institute, which partners with local houses of worship to provide healthcare. About 25 faith-based institutions participate, meeting bi-monthly with SMU staff to discuss health concerns and needs for student assistance at upcoming events. Students from various SMU disciplines participate, offering services like blood pressure screenings, counseling, basic foot care, and health presentations.
“Our goal is to bring healthcare to the communities where they are,” says Sam Alavi-Irvine, founding director of SMU’s Center for Community Engagement. “Many communities don’t have regular access to care but are at church every Sunday. This is an avenue to meet their needs and access under-resourced communities.”
Hypertension and Wellness Sunday
A flagship program of the health ministries, the Dr. Frank E. Staggers, Sr. Hypertension and Wellness Sunday takes place every February during Black History Month and National Heart Health Month. It involves students, staff, and faculty volunteers from various SMU programs offering blood pressure screenings at churches across the Bay Area and Sacramento.
Nursing students not only practice their skills but also engage with parishioners about their health goals and improvement strategies. Recommendations often include local resources, like grocery stores that offer free blood pressure checks and farmers markets accepting EBT cards.
Foot Care for the Unhoused
The Glad Tidings International COGIC’s Mobile Response Unit, another monthly event, sees SMU podiatry students providing free basic foot and ankle care to unhoused individuals. The unit, a large truck stocked with supplies, parks near a homeless encampment in Oakland to serve the community there.
Students trim and file painful nails and calluses, tend to ingrown toenails, and bandage minor wounds. They also distribute cushioning pads, shoe inserts, socks, foot creams, and sometimes new shoes. “This is a very different experience than you’ll get in regular rotations,” says Tina Javanbakht, DPM ’25. “Students learn about this population and how to work with them patiently.”
Tina Marie Chaney, who leads the Mobile Response Unit program, recalls a man who could barely shuffle due to severe toenail pain. After students tended to his feet, he walked away pain-free.
