O u r S t o r y
We are a team of students, educators, clinicians, and social workers dedicated to transforming community education.
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F o u n d e r s S t o r y ETCH was founded by undergraduate and medical students as they navigated their experience at the University of Washington. The co-founders concluded that there was a need for high-quality health education content, laid out in an easily understandable format, within homeless populations. They began to build a comprehensive resource database that catered to all types of learners. After many years of hard work and pilot-testing with focus groups and experts, they began distributing educational content through what is now called ETCH.
In 2021, ETCH became a nonprofit. While our efforts are still concentrated in Seattle, our leadership team is now working to increase health literacy on a national level through providing and distributing open-access health education materials. |
O u r M i s s i o nETCH is an interdisciplinary student-led nonprofit that collaborates with the University of Washington School of Medicine’s SHIFA chapter to offer weekly health education sessions to homeless adults in downtown Seattle. Through our community partnerships we strive to create health education curriculum that bridges evidence-based practice and the voices of the many homeless communities in Seattle with the goal of providing knowledge, skills, and tools to improve the quality of life of our participants.
We harness the most up-to-date CDC-verified information, and develop illustrations, photographs, interactive PowerPoint modules, brochures, and pamphlets. Our educational content is vetted by clinicians and medical students to ensure our information is accurate and up to date. |
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O u r C o m m u n i t y
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Through community partnerships, we create health education curriculum that bridges evidence-based practice and the voices of the many homeless communities in Seattle. These partnerships aim to be a resource that provides knowledge, skills, and tools to improve the quality of each participant’s life and community. We commit to practice and promote mutual respect that actively challenges racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism. We will educate our student volunteers on issues facing the urban underserved and inspire a lifelong commitment to social change.
Ongoing Projects (contact [email protected] for further details): Employment & Education Partnership We offer the opportunity to work with shelter residents to support them in finding employment and pursuing further education. Ideal applicants for this program are passionate about helping people work on their resumes/CVs, unemployment benefits applications, applications to Adult Basic Education & GED courses, and more. Applicants should also be willing to learn how to use LinkedIn/Indeed/Glassdoor, attend financial aid appointments at hospitals, and provide technical skill tutorials in Microsoft Office. Community Health Navigators This is a new initiative that we are working on. Mental illness in the homeless community carries an enormous stigma. We hope to reduce the stigma that surrounds the seeking of mental health support by training individuals as community health navigators. |
