AURORA, Colo. — Recent University of Colorado College of Nursing graduate Emily Fivekiller experienced homelessness as a child.
Now, she's ready to help families in similar situations.
“I grew up in Central California, pretty small town, really medically underserved, not enough providers, not enough clinics. And then that was compounded by the fact that my mother, who loved us very dearly, had a Bipolar diagnosis. And so she wasn't the best at providing some of those essential things like housing, like health care,” Fivekiller said.
Fivekiller said, from the age of 11 to 16 years old, she lived in a car with her family.
“I was very ill during that time, just lots of like Bronchitis, walking Pneumonia, all that stuff, because cars are not conducive to the most healthy living environment, you know. So, we really accessed our free clinics... and honestly, without that, I don't know, where we would have gone,” Fivekiller said. “The providers there were always really good. They were always really caring, but also short resources, short staffed.”
Fivekiller originally wanted to become a doctor, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Biology degree as an undergraduate, but said that wasn’t the right path for her. She went on to earn a master's degree in public health from the Colorado School of Public Health at Anschutz Medical Campus.
She’s been working at the Barbara Davis Center as a senior clinical scientist while also volunteering at the free DAWN Clinic.
“It feels kind of like, full circle… the DAWN clinic, it stands for Dedicated to Auroras Wellness and Needs. It's a student run free clinic,” Fivekiller said. “It's for Aurora's underserved populations of people who are either uninsured or under insured.”
Eventually, Fivekiller decided to get her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
“I recognize how important it is to have good primary care, to have preventative care. And for these patients, for me as a kid, if you don't have that, then you're ill, then you have all these complications…So being able to see people and kind of prevent some of those further complications from happening and just make sure they get the care they need, just feels really special,” Fivekiller said.
Fivekiller said her childhood experiences shaped her passion for nursing, and she is looking forward to providing compassionate care to her patients.
