On Wednesday, June 25, the physicians and residents of the department of emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital will perform a Community Service Day at Crossroads Rhode Island. The joint project will include installing a garden in the rear of the building.

The emergency medicine department developed this project as a component of its residency training to demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context of health care and the system resources available to provide care to the homeless population in Rhode Island.

In the United States, about 7.5 percent of the general population will become homeless at some point in their lifetime. Many of the homeless and disadvantaged utilize emergency departments as their main point of access to health care and social care. The project is designed to raise awareness and create empathy for homeless individuals and families.