Once a week, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine student Maria Sckaff volunteers at Charm City Care Connection. It is a nonprofit that promotes health, self-determination and self-advocacy for individuals and communities affected by drug use, stigma, poverty and inequities. Sckaff aims to assemble at least 100 harm reduction kits a week for the organization's clients.

"I like volunteering at Charm City Care Connection because I'm surrounded by people who are passionate about promoting health," says Sckaff, who is in her second year of medical school. "I'm not from Baltimore, but every volunteer session makes me feel closer to this community."

Charm City Care Connection is just six blocks north of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Executive Director Anne Langley says the organization has been providing community health services since 2009. The organization is dedicated to distributing harm reduction kits throughout Baltimore City. Charm City Care Connection distributes a wide range of harm reduction resources, including safer drug use kits, wound care kits, and hygiene kits. The supplies are funded primarily through a state grant.

"We see nearly 500 people a week and go through a lot of kits," says Langley.

Charm City Care Connection also has a drop-in center for showers, laundry and food. There are case management services available every day. Additionally, the organization partners with the Baltimore City Health Department to offer access to buprenorphine and other health care services at the drop-in center.

Sckaff says she learned about the volunteer opportunity when Charm City Care Connection came to talk to medical students about their mission.

"I find their efforts very honorable. They do so much for the community," she says. "When I came to Baltimore, I learned that Baltimore has one of the highest rates of overdose deaths. I thought joining Charm City Care Connection was a way I could help."

Sckaff, who is an active member of the First-Generation Low-Income Partnership in Medicine (FLIP-MD) and the Latino Medical Student Association and helps run the Hopkins Med Students Instagram account, encourages other medical students to volunteer at the organization. Kate Dunn, Charm City Care Connection director of services, says they value their volunteers because they allow the staff to focus on the services.

"It would be hard to do what we do without them," Dunn says. "It's important that people get to know where they live and get to know their neighbors. It's also crucial for us to have early-career students coming in because it helps them become health care professionals who are better equipped to understand people who use drugs and harm reduction practices. We hope it will improve patient care."

Langley adds that Charm City Care Connection was started by a group of medical students and undergraduates, so it's fitting that students like Sckaff volunteer.

"Students who have a real connection to the community can take that into any kind of medicine they practice," she says. "It helps them put their schooling into context, and we hope we can impact the career trajectories of some students."

Dunn says Sckaff is one of their most consistent volunteers.

"She has really gotten to know the system," Dunn says. "She talks with staff and other volunteers while she's assembling the kits. She's really engaged and has become a part of our community."

Nathan Irvin, a Johns Hopkins University associate professor of emergency medicine, got to know Sckaff while working to plan activities for medical school orientation for first-year students. Sckaff helped Irvin develop an identity workshop so the students could reflect on how identity affects their sense of belonging and how sharing more about themselves can be a way to build connections.

"It's a true joy to work with her," Irvin says. "Maria does so much to make our community better. She has a tremendous spirit of selflessness. It speaks to the heart of the type of student we want to train at Johns Hopkins."

Irvin emphasizes the urgency of work to address opioid overdose in Baltimore.

"These students are coming into medical school when this is a true public health emergency. They are learning to save lives," Irvin says. "Volunteering to assemble harm reduction kits can help save lives now and set the standard for the type of work they do in the future. This speaks to the reality that our students recognize the importance of using all their skills and abilities to see how they can help the city of Baltimore."

To Irvin, part of being a doctor is understanding patients.

"What we do in the clinic/health care space is just a small contributor to one's health," Irvin says. "It's vital that students get out there to understand what our patients face. It can help humanize our patients and build better connections. Students like Maria are demonstrating Hopkins' commitment to holistic health and well-being."

For more information about Charm City Care Connection, visit charmcitycareconnection.org.