YogAmuse

The Suitcase Clinic is a student and volunteer run organization founded by students from the UCB-UCSF Joint Medical Program (JMP) and UC Berkeley's School of Public Health out of a desire to address the unmet needs of the city of Berkeley's homeless and low-income population. Structured around the principles of public health, social welfare, community activism and empathy, the Suitcase Clinic currently operates three weekly multi-service drop-in centers in the city Berkeley: the General Clinic, the Women's Clinic and the Youth Clinic. In addition to providing services, the Suitcase Clinic strives to educate students, promote health care access, engage in community organization, and support public policy efforts that address homelessness and the needs of the underserved in the local community.

The mission of the Suitcase Clinic is to promote the health and overall wellbeing of underserved individuals through service provision, cooperative learning, and collective action among community and professional volunteers, students, and participants.

We, community and professional volunteers, students, and participants …

* Join together as a group of volunteers in a cooperative relationship with the community to serve as advocates for homeless people;
* Provide continuous aid to the homeless and low-income groups, regardless of their ability to pay;
* Help those who want help with health and social services, using our skills to make it possible for them to help themselves;
* Provide assistance regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or lifestyle, not discriminating against anybody in need;
* Recognize that health and well-being affect the spectrum of life;
* Strive to make a long term difference through commitment;
* Maintain this mission through constant reevaluation and effort to benefit homeless individuals in any way that we, as a group, are able.

We, community and professional volunteers, students, and participants, that support the mission of the Suitcase Clinic, believe …

* In the dignity of all human beings, and hold that health care is a right of all persons, regardless of ability to pay;
* That health is a holistic state of complete physical, mental, emotional and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity;
* Health promotion requires more than medical care and should include programs that address behavioral, social, and environmental issues that affect people's quality of life;
* That our projects should stem from the participants' expressed needs and desires, rather than from providers' beliefs about participants' needs. We value the principle of "starting where people are;"
* That our projects should strive to be proactive rather than reactive by responding to the concerns of all homeless and low-income persons and not just those who come to us, utilizing individual's strengths and resources rather than simply focusing on his or her needs, and advocating for public policies that address long-term concerns in addition to immediate needs;
* That empowerment involves cooperative learning, which encourages personal reflection, and a Clinic environment that fosters personal growth through the sharing of ideas, resources, and support;
* That the educational experience of volunteers should not supersede the service provision to participants;
* That our projects and provided services should be culturally appropriate and accessible;
* That we should maintain an informal environment that fosters teamwork and community building.