The DMC Foundation has given the Wayne State University School of Medicine a one-year, $10,000 grant to support Project H, a free bimonthly clinic established by first- and second-year medical students in 2000 at the Wayne County Family Center in Westland. The center is the only homeless shelter in Michigan that allows families to stay together.

Project H caters to shelter residents. Students practice taking histories and perform physical exams as they are able, and present their patients - adults and children - to Wayne State physicians. Student volunteers earn co-curricular credits for serving at the center.

The funds will be used to provide supplies, medication and equipment for the homeless.

"It was very important for Project H to receive this grant so we can continue to provide the best patient care possible," said Edward Rooney, a third-year medical student. "A lot of our current resources are outdated and primitive, so this grant will provide us with the opportunity to make the clinic a better and safer environment for all the patients to experience, which is our main priority. With this grant we will be able to afford new exam tables to replace the outdated current ones, and better tools, tests and medication options to provide the best patient care."

Rooney is the former clinic coordinator for Project H.

"Students can easily get lost in the hustle and bustle of medical school and lose sight of why they entered medical school in the first place, and this is where Project H is a great opportunity to remind us all that we came to Detroit to serve the community and take care of those in need," Rooney said. "Project H offers the ability to directly connect to Detroit and the community and truly make a difference in someone's life, even in your early years as a medical student."

Patient interaction, Rooney said, is a critical to medical student education and "Project H is a place where many students get their first true life patient interaction, and their first patient to care for. As much as the clinic benefits the community, it benefits us students even more by giving us real world experiences that can shape and mold the physicians we are to become."

The DMC Foundation is dedicated to promoting the welfare of the general public in the metropolitan Detroit area through the support of health-related research, education and activities that benefit the community. It also awarded Wayne State a $10,000 grant to support medical student efforts at Detroit's Cass Clinic.

The foundation is a supporting organization of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, and was created in 2010 to receive part of the charitable assets transferred from the Detroit Medical Center following its sale to Vanguard Health Systems.