Syrian American Medical Society

Lindsey Smith, a Minneapolis native, is a nurse practitioner and volunteer with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and has recently taken on the honorable roll of President of the Minnesota Chapter. With SAMS, she was part of the first team that responded to the crisis of 35,000 refugees stranded along the Greek-Macedonian border after military presence sealed the border. After forceful evacuation and dispersement into military camps, she continued this work for those awaiting asylum.  

Smith is on the board for SAMS Global Response Team that focuses their efforts on countries in crisis and natural disasters outside of the Syrian conflict. This summer, during the battle against ISIS in Mosul, Iraq, she worked with a team in an abandoned garage on the frontlines caring for those who were able to flee from ISIS. Shortly after, she was deployed with SAMS to Puerto Rico after hurricane Irma devastated the island.  

She continues to advocate for those in need. In April, she lead a team of 34 (including nine other Minnesotans) to volunteer in refugee camps in Lebanon on the Syrian border. The mission started the same day the United States fired missiles at Syrian military bases in response to the chemical attacks only days before. The majority of the camps were widowed women and orphaned children.