People of Housing Security:
Evelyn Quigley

As someone who enjoys hunting mushrooms, riding horses, and hiking in her free time, Evelyn Quigley is a true nature lover at heart. She enjoys staying active and being on her feet. When it came to her career, Evelyn knew she wanted to do something meaningful, but she never imagined she could combine all her passions into the career she has now. Evelyn is the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner for HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP), and gets to spend her days on her feet, sometimes in nature, helping some of Bloomington’s most vulnerable residents. 

Evelyn was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when she was three. 

Her dad was in the military reserves and the main reason behind her family’s moves. Growing up in Salt Lake City was where Evelyn developed her love for the great outdoors. After high school, Evelyn moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where she started taking general classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). At the time she had no idea what she wanted to study. Ultimately, Evelyn decided she wanted to take up nursing. She enjoyed taking care of others and wanted to do something with a purpose. 

Evelyn received her Associate Degree in Nursing (RN) from Ivy Tech Bloomington and started working for IU Health’s Bloomington Hospital. She then went to Indiana Wesleyan where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. During this time, Evelyn was still working at Bloomington Hospital doing a wide variety of hospital care including behavioral health. It was during Evelyn’s time in behavioral health that a mentor encouraged Evelyn to pursue her masters. Evelyn decided to go back to school and get her Master’s Degree in Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health from Indiana University. “I recognized the critical shortage of psychiatric providers in our country and in our community and decided that this was a worthwhile reason to go back to school,” Evelyn said.

After earning her masters in 2022, a friend of Evelyn’s encouraged her to consider a job for HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP). HIP had been hypothetically considering the addition of a psychiatric nurse practitioner to their team, but there had been no job listing yet. Evelyn ended up interviewing and receiving the position, starting in October of 2022.

“I didn’t envision I would have the opportunity to do street medicine,” Evelyn said. As far as Evelyn is aware, she is the only psychiatric nurse practitioner currently providing street medicine in the state of Indiana, and one of few in the United States. Evelyn spends one day a week in the Bloomington HealthNet clinic, and the other four days as the Psychiatric NP for the HealthNet HIP Street Medicine Team.

One of the main goals in Evelyn’s position is to break down the barriers to accessing psychiatric health care. Psychiatric care is a critical shortage area nationwide, and it can often take nine months to get in to see a psych professional. “This makes it unattainable to get psychiatric help for people experiencing homelessness,” Evelyn said. The lack of psychiatric street medicine is one of the reasons Evelyn feels so impactful in her position. “If I really want to help some people, this is the way to do it,” she said.

Many of the clients Evelyn works with have shared experiences of poor mistreatment by authority figures or the medical community. This includes clients not having their problems taken seriously or not feeling like they’re respected. In her position, Evelyn works with these individuals to make sure they’re heard and treated. 

“You should be able to easily access psychiatric care without any stigma attached,” Evelyn explained. She also noted how psychiatric care is ongoing and you have to follow up with clients indefinitely. “It takes time,” Evelyn said. “It doesn’t just happen after one meeting.”

“If you don’t have mental health, you don’t have anything really.”

Trauma is a big issue Evelyn has noticed in her clients. She has seen young people with trauma and no familial support. “I’ve been fortunate in my life to have family and friends I can rely on,” she said. 

Evelyn explained how clients will carry their trauma with them throughout their whole lives, but after a while it will catch up to you. Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can severely have a negative impact on one’s mental health. “If you don’t have mental health, you don’t have anything really,” Evelyn explained. “Medication can help people get a restart.”

Evelyn’s position has also taught her a lot about those experiencing housing insecurity. “A lot of individuals are incredibly tough, resilient, and hardworking – constantly working to survive,” Evelyn shared. “There are so many barriers, and they just keep trying.” 

Evelyn also explained that there are a lot of misconceptions about homelessness and the role substance use has on that. Many individuals are self medicating because they have some other problem. These individuals are able to greatly decrease their use of other drugs when they have the right prescription medication.

Outside of work, Evelyn enjoys doing all things outdoors. Evelyn lives out in the country in Owen County with her husband and fourteen pets. Her “hobby farm” consists of five horses, four chickens, three cats, and two dogs. When the weather’s nice, Evelyn enjoys scavenging for mushrooms and hiking on various trails such as Greene Sullivan State Park and the Lake Monroe Peninsula Trail. She also loves boating, swimming, and floating in Lake Monroe during the summer.