The Landing partners with WSU-R nursing program to help care for people experiencing homelessness
Every day, dozens of people experiencing homelessness head to the former Silver Lake Fire Station in search of simple comforts: a hot meal, a safe place to rest, and the company of good people.
It’s made possible through the work of the nonprofit The Landing MN — and now, thanks to a partnership with local nursing students, people in need can find much more under one roof.
Each week, students in the Winona State University-Rochester nursing program head to The Landing’s temporary home inside the former Silver Lake Fire Station to give haircuts, foot care, and medical screenings to people experiencing homelessness.
While The Landing’s main goal is to “give people a place that’s warm and dry,” Dan Fifield, the nonprofit’s co-founder and president, says the nursing students have allowed his team to expand the services they can offer.
“It’s given our friends experiencing homelessness access to some medical care they wouldn’t otherwise get,” says Fifield (shown in the photo above). “With the nursing students on hand, they can do [medical] assessments and get people pointed in the right direction if they need medical attention.”
For the students themselves, the real-world experience they gain inside The Landing is invaluable — not only for their medical training, but to learn the nuances of communicating with a stranger.
Amber Fiedler, assistant nursing professor at WSU-R, says those interactions are crucial opportunities for students to learn how to facilitate a “caring conversation.” By asking the right questions and listening with intent, nurses are able to provide better care in the moment.
Through working with underserved populations, Fiedler believes her students will leave the program with a better understanding of the experiences people experiencing homelessness face.
“My students learn about the stigma that surrounds being homeless, [and] that surrounds mental illness,” says Fiedler. “They’re hearing about the choices these people have made, and how they got to this position — and the students realize they’re just like everyone else.”
The Landing has been operating out of the old fire house since November as part of a temporary agreement with the city that relies on federal stimulus funds. Its future beyond this August, however, remains unclear. That is why Fiedler and her students decided to step up and do what they can to ensure The Landing’s mission lives on.
“We wanted to create a way to have the students get out there and advocate [for The Landing],” says Prof. Fiedler.
This past week, nursing students from WSU-R visited the old fire station, but this time not to cut hair or give a checkup — instead, they spent the night in a cardboard box, as the finale of a weeks-long effort to raise awareness for The Landing’s situation.
Fiedler says the event is just one more example of how the two organizations have helped each other realize their goals over the past three years: the Warrior students have helped The Landing provide essential services to the people that need it most, and The Landing provides the students with experience they can’t get anywhere else.
“There’s just a bunch of great people at Winona State,” says Fifield. “They’ve really cared and they really want to help. They’ve been an invaluable asset to us ever since we started working together.”
Above all, both WSU-R and The Landing believe in providing care without judgment to people that need it — so it’s little surprise that the two organizations have worked together with such success.
“When you go to The Landing, it feels like a community,” says Prof. Fiedler. “That’s what I’ve really tried to create with my students, when they work with people experiencing homelessness — finding that sense of community, that sense of friendship.”
