It has been a busy year for medical students Andrew Elms, JP Arios and Kolby Versage. Between balancing schoolwork, studying and exams, the three M2s are teaching their colleagues how to crochet for good.
All of them have unique experiences with crocheting. Arios learned from his mom, often holding yarn or marking stitches for her. Versage would watch his older sister knit and, in typical younger sibling fashion, wanted to learn how to do it himself. Elms says, slowly but surely, he's picking up the skills. He shouts out JP and Kolby for taking the lead in teaching others.
When Arios worked with homeless people during his gap and undergraduate years, he noticed that community organizations were already working to meet many of their needs.
“Like food banks, free basic care, social services for getting an ID or telephone and help setting up housing,” Arios says. “But oftentimes, their clothing needs were unmet. Being in Chicago now for medical school, it’s more important that these needs are met because of how cold it gets for almost half of the year.”
Looking into student organizations at Rush, he noticed there wasn’t a group quite like the one he was starting to envision. He threw the idea of crocheting items for donation to Elms and Versage. They then presented it to Sharon Gates, senior director, Student Diversity and Community Engagement at Rush University.
That was the start of the Warm Threads Initiative.
“She really loved the idea and said there was something like it in the past, but it didn’t continue. We decided we will carry it through until we graduate,” Arios says.
Filling two needs with one deed
Since the start of the Warm Threads Initiative in January 2025, the group has held three events teaching people how to crochet. Arios says they mainly make beanies because they’re easier to learn and quicker to finish.
Once students are done with their beanies, they drop them off at the Rush University Cultural Center. They're then encouraged to take more yarn and hooks to get started on crocheting more donations.
Crocheting doesn’t just satisfy the group’s mission to give back. It also allows students to unwind.
“There’s a lot less thinking involved, and you kind of just get into a flow state,” Arios says. “People recognize that when you’re in a flow state, you’re more relaxed. Especially with medical school, you’re constantly thinking of so many different things — what’s coming up, what you have to do and what you didn’t do.”
But there’s another perk for these medical students. For Versage and Arios, who want to become surgeons, it’s a way for them to work on their dexterity.
“It’s nice to work on my fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, like when I’m trying to feed the hook through a loop or something. I’ve noticed it does help,” Versage says.
Elms is taking the dermatology route. For him, crocheting aligns with his career goals because he is first-hand creating ways to protect people’s skin from cold temperatures.
Connecting with the community and each other for years to come
The Warm Threads Initiative is not exclusive to medical students. In fact, Versage says one of his favorite things about the group is that he has been able to connect with students across all of Rush’s colleges.
“When we first started it, I pictured it being more medical students because that’s our world,” he says. “But it’s been really cool that, at each event, we have a huge showing of nursing students, PA students and master’s students. Even some of the faculty will come sit in and learn.”
Elms, Arios and Versage have two years left at Rush University, but they’re already looking into the future of the Warm Threads Initiative.
“We're working on identifying students who are willing to take this on before we leave,” Arios says. “It’s very easy now to find people that are interested or good at crocheting because it was something a lot of people did and became popular during COVID-19. There are a lot of people who have the skill and are just as eager to teach others.”
If that’s you, or if you’re interested in learning how to crochet, you can reach out directly to Arios through email: johnpaul_t_arios@rush.edu.
You can learn more about RCSIP initiatives and their community impact here.
