CityStreetRN is an Ohio 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and supporting underserved and underinsured residents of Lorain County, Ohio. We bring nurse-led health education, blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, bilingual outreach, and connections to healthcare resources beyond traditional healthcare settings and into the community.
Our work is compassionate, practical, and grounded in respect. We meet people where they are geographically, emotionally, culturally, and within their current circumstances.
CityStreetRN exists to educate the underserved and underinsured community to live healthier lives.
To foster a healthier and more informed underserved and underinsured community, reducing health disparities and improving overall quality of life.
People who are uninsured or underinsured may face difficult choices between paying for healthcare and meeting other essential expenses. Transportation challenges, unstable housing, language differences, limited access to reliable health information, and difficulty navigating complex systems can create additional barriers.
CityStreetRN brings volunteer nurses and trusted health information into familiar community settings. Through education, monitoring, referrals, and relationship-building, we help people better understand their health and connect with appropriate healthcare resources.
Alicia Jones began her career as a bedside nurse and later worked in the emergency department, where she saw firsthand how people experiencing homelessness and other underserved community members often arrived with health concerns made worse by limited access to ongoing care. Behind every visit was a person trying to manage health needs while also facing barriers such as unstable housing, transportation challenges, financial hardship, or difficulty navigating the healthcare system.
Those experiences stayed with Alicia and deepened her commitment to serving people outside traditional healthcare walls. She began reaching out to local organizations in Lorain and joining their efforts to support people experiencing homelessness. As she listened and learned, she recognized a gap: no nursing organization was consistently and proactively going into Lorain's streets and trusted community spaces to provide health education, basic monitoring, and connections to care.
With the help of a very special group of volunteer nurses, support-team members, community partners, students, and donors, CityStreetRN has grown from a heartfelt idea into a community based effort that has provided health encounters, bilingual education, blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring, first-aid kits, blood pressure monitors, seasonal campaigns, and connections to healthcare resources throughout Lorain County, Ohio.
CityStreetRN does more than record a number. We use each encounter to listen, explain, identify barriers, build trust, and help the individual determine an appropriate next step.
Our services are delivered by volunteer nurses and a trained support team through relationships with organizations that already know and serve the community.