Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC) and the Greenfield Foundation

From top left, clockwise: TEAC students offering a free community CPR class; TEAC volunteers teaching a pharmacy curriculum in Ghana; TEAC students discussing their efforts at a local reception; Dr. Zoë Maher, founder of and advisor to TEAC

By Jennah Bolden, Summer 2025 Intern

Introduction 

When I interned at harp-weaver LLC this past summer, a skill that I wanted to gain additional experience in was interviewing. When I mentioned this, harp-weaver staff connected me to Dr. Zoё Maher, the founder and faculty advisor for Temple Emergency Action Corps (TEAC). Temple Emergency Action Corps is a student-run organization that is dedicated to providing compassionate, culturally conscious medical care in cases of local, national, and international disasters.

A mother and trauma surgeon at Temple University Hospital, Dr. Maher co-founded TEAC alongside other medical students in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Since then, TEAC has been a special initiative supported by the Greenfield Foundation, a family foundation that harp-weaver manages.

The Beginnings of TEAC

Before medical school, Dr. Maher was a member of Teach for America, teaching in the ninth ward of New Orleans. Two years later, in her second year of medical school, Hurricane Katrina struck. As she listened to the devastating news from Philadelphia, she felt powerless in terms of how to support the community she had created personal ties with. Motivated to act, she and five other medical students worked with FEMA and other nonprofits to provide support through efforts, such as blood pressure screenings, clean-up work, and other services. This powerful, formative experience marked the beginning of what would become Temple Emergency Action Corps.

TEAC Then and Now

Since its inception, Temple medical students have participated in sixteen missions across the globe, including in Honduras, Nicaragua, and most recently, India and Ghana. In addition to national efforts, they also serve their local Philadelphia communities.

Dr. Maher shared that while TEAC was originally created to aid in recovery from national disasters, it has expanded to provide consistent healthcare access to the Philadelphia community. One key initiative is the THRIVE Bridge Clinic, which focuses on addressing opioid use disorder in the One Day At A Time Shelter, with plans on expanding to the women’s shelter. The clinic continues to extend their support for the community, as they currently offer HIV and Hepatitis C screening and services. In addition to clinical experience, TEAC provides students critical training in CPR and Narcan administration, equipping them with life-saving skills essential to their future roles in medicine. As part of its clinic work, TEAC has begun looking into collaborating with the Street Medicine Teams at Temple within the next 1-2 years to expand care in the community.

Through her work as a trauma surgeon and resident in North Philadelphia, Dr. Maher identified structural and systematic racism as the community’s most pivotal obstacles that affect every aspect of healthcare. She pointed to poverty, drug use, and gun violence, which stem from the issue of systemic racism and deeply affects the communities she and TEAC serve. Deeply passionate about addressing community violence, she hopes TEAC continues to develop initiatives that combat these interconnected challenges.

Looking Global: A Shift in Understanding

From being a medical student and founder of TEAC to a practicing physician, Dr. Maher conveyed how her perspective on healthcare has changed. Specifically, she has a clearer understanding on the topic and significance of global health. As a student, she associated global health with mission trips, without fully considering the broader issues of equity and justice.

Students at TEAC are already recognizing the importance of considering those broader issues while being a part of a global health community. With that being said, TEAC has recently joined Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), a global health partnership focused on strengthening health systems and tackling health disparities. Dr. Maher shared that this collaboration will allow TEAC to engage in global health work, which will benefit their partners in Ghana, the medical students, and patients because the students are receiving an active education on the meaning and purpose of global health.

Looking Ahead

In the future, Dr. Maher envisions that TEAC will continue to flourish and develop new ideas. One of TEAC’s unique strengths, she said, is that the student leadership positions change annually, so the organization has and will continue to be molded by numerous diverse perspectives.

“Over the years, TEAC students have driven the organization's evolution from disaster response work to establishing our clinic and expanding into global health partnerships, because they recognized that making a meaningful difference in healthcare requires addressing the systemic issues like racism and inequity that affect our communities every day. This student-led growth reflects their understanding that lasting change happens when we approach healthcare through the lens of equity, justice, and reciprocity—whether we're serving here in North Philadelphia or working with our global partners,” she shared.

All in all, TEAC gives medical students the opportunity to ponder how their studies and work could align with the shifting understanding of the world within the confines of the core areas of equity, justice, and reciprocity. Students have learned that it’s not necessary to travel in order to make a difference in disaster relief and recovery.