Sept. 11, 2019
In the last few weeks my husband fixed a toilet, I replaced a showerhead and power washed our siding, we had to get some lawn work done and we talked about replacing our floors and carpeting. Oh, and the deck needs repainting and the roof will probably need an upgrade in the next few years. Ah…the joys of homeownership.
But you know what? For all the trials and tribulations of keeping up a house, and paying for repairs, it really is a joy to own one. We went a long time dreaming of the day we’d put a key into a door that was ours. It’s also an absolute privilege. I know that every night I’ll have a roof over my head, access to clean water, protection from whatever elements Mother Nature gives us and a place to call home.
I say it’s a privilege because there are millions of people around the world who not only don’t own a house but literally have no place at all to call home. Can you imagine what that is like? How horrible it must be to not know where you will put your head down at night. Worse yet, imagine the despair of not knowing where your kids will sleep. It’s a heartbreaking and crushing problem.
What happens when you don’t have a home and you get sick? If you’re financially unable to have shelter, I imagine accessing basic health care would be a nightmare.
Here in the Lansing area, that’s where Brianne Feldpausch comes in. Brianne founded the Spartan Street Medicine program as an osteopathic medical student so she and her team could take care of people both on the streets of Lansing and in shelters. Watch the short video in the MSUTODAY FEATURE: Treating everyone with dignity, to learn more about this exceptional Spartan and important program.
Sometimes, the emotional side of a health crisis can be harder to overcome than actual pain or surgery. (That was absolutely the case for me when I got my defibrillator.) Shelby Baez, an assistant professor of kinesiology, is working to help patients recovering from ACL injuries get past the psychological issues and back to activity. Check out the short video in the FACULTY VOICE: Improving outcomes, to hear about her work in her own words.
Emotions are tricky things. They impact every aspect of our lives. For Areli Cardenas Arteaga, a junior civil engineering student, her wonderful homelife sometimes makes being at MSU difficult. She fell in love with MSU awhile ago and worked hard to get here but sometimes feels like she’s not there for her family. Read her heartfelt STUDENT VIEW: From Mexico to Michigan to MSU, to learn more about this inspiring young Spartan.
I know that tonight when I go home, I’ll have a dishwasher to unload, laundry to put away and my closet could really use some reorganization. Rather than complain about it, instead I’ll be grateful for the fact that I have a messy closet to call my own. I’ll also be grateful that Spartans all over the globe are looking out for others in many different ways. Take care of each other, Spartans. Take care of your communities, our planet, strangers and anything else you see that needs caring for. As individuals, we all have the power to make a difference for someone. #SpartansWill.
Lisa Mulcrone
Editor, MSUToday
@LMulcrone
Photo by Alyssa Maturen