Cynthia Delmas, RN, is committed to helping people by making health care more accessible. The Doctor of Nursing Practice student in the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing is founder of a monthly community health initiative for the homeless population of New Bedford.
Delmas was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to New Bedford when she was 8. She remembers volunteering with her family when she was young and always having a passion for medicine.
After graduating with a sociology degree from UMass Dartmouth, Delmas worked in several emergency department settings as a clinical researcher and a health unit coordinator. She is in the Family Nurse Practitioner Track at UMass Chan.
“With family medicine, I get a little bit of everything. I knew that I liked working with all populations—not just kids, not just adults,” she said. “I also knew I liked all of the organ systems, so not just neuro or cardio.”
The New Bedford Health Initiative, the community health organization Delmas launched five years ago, was inspired by the need for the homeless population to have access to medical care that she witnessed.
“I wanted to do something tangible and palpable,” said Delmas. “Once I got people on board to help, more ideas started coming. I thought, ‘Let’s not just do vital signs. Let’s also give haircuts. Let’s give away nice clothing—not just clothes on a table, but we could set up a rack and use nice hangers. Let’s help make this an experience because no one wants to be homeless.”
Delmas and her husband drive from Worcester to New Bedford the last Saturday of every month where the New Bedford Health Initiative meets from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside of city hall.
“It’s been cool because we don’t market or advertise anything. People just know to come and they’ll bring their friends,” said Delmas. “We meet new people every time. We’ve partnered up with the local police department, New Bedford city hall, several churches and local organizations including a local dentist’s office that supplies toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss. It’s become more than I ever thought it would be.”
The Student Spotlight series features UMass Chan Medical School students in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and T.H. Chan School of Medicine. For more information about UMass Chan Medical School and how to apply, visit the Prospective Students page.
