Covenant House Pennsylvania
Title: Empowering Youth Through Resilience-Based Care and Community Connection
Student Interns:
Puneeth Guruprasad
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Natasa Rohacs
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Hillary R. Bogner, MD, MSCE
University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Donald L. Boyer, MD, MSEd
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Community Preceptor:
Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, FAAP
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
David Reis
Covenant House Pennsylvania
Community Site:
Covenant House Pennsylvania (CHPA) provides safe shelter, housing programs, and supportive services for young people aged 18 to 24 who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and human trafficking. CHPA welcomes all youth with unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support, offering a safe place 24/7 at no cost.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns provided supervised healthcare, including intakes and sick visits, in the shelter clinic with a deep focus on strengths-based communication. During days without provider coverage, the interns provided medical case management, emotional support, and career-building workshops for youth in the shelter. Outside of these roles, the interns formed longitudinal relationships with the youth that promoted growth into resilient, secure, and healthy adulthood.
Reflections
“Our experience at Covenant House was transformative. We saw firsthand how systemic injustice intersects with health, and how trauma-sensitive, strengths-based care can begin to repair that harm. Each interaction challenged us to slow down, to listen more deeply, and to see our patients as whole people with complex lives and powerful resilience. We were reminded that presence itself is healing. Working alongside an extraordinary team of clinicians, case managers, and volunteers, we learned how to hold space for our patients’ stories while also building sustainable systems that extend care beyond the clinic. This summer reinforced our commitment to community-driven medicine and showed us that clinical care, at its best, can be a form of advocacy, accompaniment, and love.”
Puneeth Guruprasad & Natasa Rohacs