Connecting to Better Health

Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to turn for help. For underserved and disproportionately affected patients living in Philadelphia, the road to housing, transportation, and insurance, among other social determinants of health, remains a challenging one. Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives interdisciplinary, student-volunteer program Service Link aims to make this process smoother by helping connect this population directly to public benefits and community resources, such as health insurance, utility assistance, and legal support, that can improve their health and overall wellbeing.

“We help in small ways and in big ways,” said Varshini Gali, a Penn undergraduate student and director of operations for Service Link. “To work with patients over weeks and months to help them figure out how to navigate their transportation or housing needs, for example, is gratifying. But I think one of the best things we do is provide a listening ear to a lot of people. It’s facetime just for them.”