OUWB professor donates 100 hats she knitted to Street Medicine Oakland

An OUWB clinical faculty member has put her own creative spin on what it means to be a compassionate physician dedicated to improving the health of the community.

Lori Stec, M.D., handmade 100 winter hats that she recently donated to Street Medicine Oakland for distribution during the coldest time of the year.

Stec is an ophthalmologist at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital (WBUH) in Royal Oak. Further, she serves as program director for ophthalmology residency and is director of WBUH's ophthalmology consult service.

She also has several roles at OUWB: professor, director of student professionalism, and clerkship and elective director for ophthalmology.

The argument could be made that she has another title: knitter extraordinaire.

"There's just something about making something for someone else that will last for a long time and is a sustainable, meaningful gift," she says with a smile.

Kaithlyn Duong, M3, co-leader, Street Medicine Oakland, says the organization is "extremely grateful" for the donation.

"Especially with the weather getting a lot colder, we are thankful to be able to distribute them to the community," says Duong. "While we are able to return to our warm homes after our outreaches, the unhoused community have to endure the chilly temperatures, so anything to keep them warm is absolutely appreciated."

'Downtime to rejuvenate'

Lori Stec, M.D., takes a moment for a photo before donating the 100 hats she's made in the last year.

The origin story of the hats traces back to the early days of COVID-19, when many people developed new hobbies to keep busy and/or stay distracted from the onslaught of negative news.

Stec took up knitting and was, well, hooked.

"It's very soothing and methodical and you can be as creative as you want to be or you can follow a pattern…there's something for everyone, every skill level," she says.

Plus, there is the benefit of simply disconnecting, if only for a short time.

"I think it's important, no matter what it is, to set aside time and just kind of get off the grid, get offline, and decompress," says Stec. "Whether it's vacation, a couple hours on a weekend, or an hour each day. It's important to have downtime to rejuvenate."

Stec fully embraced the hobby.

"That first year, all my friends got a hat and scarf set," she says.

She joined a Facebook group called "Stitchin' Physicians" and connected with other doctors who love to knit.

There were other benefits, too. For example, Stec says she discovered that she felt more engaged in the listening process during some meetings and lectures when she knitted at the same time.

"There's actually some studies that show you're paying more attention when you're knitting than if you're sitting there daydreaming or on your phone," she says.

But as her affinity for knitting grew, so, too, did the amount of yarn she accumulated.

"I quickly fell into the habit that a lot of us knitters and crocheters fall into, which is you buy more yarn than you need for your projects," she says.

About a year ago, Stec says she put herself on a "yarn diet" and sought a project that was easy and quick.

That's when she started making winter hats.

"I decided to make as many hats as I could out of what I had before I would buy any more yarn," she says.

Each hat takes about 2.5 hours to craft. They are mostly made of wool yarn, though some are blends. There are 777 stitches per hat.

Stec says she made hats in all kinds of places - in meetings, on planes, on trains, and so on.

Before she knew it, Stec had gone through about 20 pounds of yarn and done nearly 80,000 stitches in the process of making 100 hats.

'Absolutely shocked'

Stec knew she wanted to donate the hats to a good cause and that's when she read about Street Medicine Oakland (SMO) on the OUWB social media channels.

SMO is a first-of-its-kind program in Oakland County.

It launched in late 2019 and per its website, "aims to bridge the gap between the homeless members of our community and health care providers. We work to better understand our patients' realities, so that we may provide quality medical care and resources, while equipping future physicians and leaders in health care with perspective and experience caring for the homeless population." SMO also has engaged in other community outreach efforts, such as winter clothing drives and workshops at local high schools.

Duong says she was "absolutely shocked" when Stec reached out. It's the kind of donation SMO relies on, adds Duong.

"SMO would not be able to provide the amount of care we do, if it were not for the donations people have graciously offered," she says. "We are very thankful for every donation we have received because they help fuel our outreaches. From clothes to lunches, we are a team that represents the kindness of our community and the hand they are willing to extend to individuals facing homelessness."

Duong says that Stec's hat-making talent is "beyond impressive" and calls her donation "admirable."

"Our unhoused community will definitely feel the warmth and care Dr. Stec put into each hat," she adds.

And it's that warmth that will be provided to a stranger that Stec says is the most rewarding aspect of the hat project.

"I didn't know exactly who I was knitting the hats for, and I probably never will know," she says. "But now that winter is arriving and it's cold, I think the hats will meet a need and that's a nice, good feeling."

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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