Medical students step up to help healthcare workers around the house amid crisis

CHICAGO - Medical students not yet ready to be on the front lines are stepping up to help those already waging war on COVID-19.

With so many essential employees slammed by work, students are volunteering to help them at home.

Getting groceries takes time and energy, which are two things healthcare workers have in short supply these days. Same goes for pet care, and of course, caring for children.

So, local medical students are volunteering to take on these tasks for their healthcare heroes -- for free.

“All of our volunteers sign up with the intention of wanting to give back to their mentors, their teachers, and this is one way we can do that,” said medical student Zoe Ljubic.

Ljubic helped launch Chicago COVIDsitters, which matches local medical students with healthcare and essential workers who need help around the house.

“We were just trying to find a way to give back anyway we can since we couldn't be in a hospital any more at that point,” Ljubic said.

The students offer to help anyone on the front lines, from the doctors and nurses at hospitals to the cafeteria workers and custodians, all facing exhausting and stressful workloads.

So far, childcare is the biggest request.

“We can't take away this nightmare that we're all living, but we can help in any way that we can,” Ljubic said.

The volunteers hope more essential workers request help at chicovidsitters.org.