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Take a chronically homeless woman, Mary (not her real name), in her late 50’s who has had emphysema from years of smoking. Her condition has been aggravated by a life on the streets and in cramped shelters where respiratory contagions flourish. Several times a year she has collapsed and needed to be rushed to an emergency room for oxygen, intravenous antibiotics, and other treatments.
She would like to be united with her 29 year old daughter whom she had to give up as a small child, but, she does not know the whereabouts of her daughter. Is she also living on the street? Is she doing well? Where is she?
A year ago, a social service agency found Mary a home of her own in a building staffed with caseworkers and nurses to check in on her regularly. Soon, the chaos of homelessness gave way to order, so that she was able to keep track of her medications and learn how to use an inhaler.
She has gone for a full year without needing a single hospitalization.
The purpose of Homes to Heal is to get chronically homeless people, like Mary, or people at risk of becoming homeless an opportunity to improve their well-being and to save money spent on institutional care, whether it be hospitalizations, shelters, detox facilities, or jails.
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