Graduate students at the School of Medicine have proven that Dwight Hall is not the only outlet for service-oriented Yalies. The Homeless Outreach Program Enrichment (Project HOPE), one of the largest volunteer programs at the School of Medicine, brings a variety of student services to New Haven homeless shelters.
Now in its third year, Project HOPE mainly targets three local shelters-Columbus House for adult men and women, Douglas House for adolescents, and Care Ways Shelter for mothers and children. All three shelters are members of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. About three times a week, three or four volunteers and one medical provider visit the shelters and administer exams, conduct workshops and discussion sessions on health-related issues, and prescribe medicine.
Bill Johnston, program director of Columbus House, said, "We are very pleased with what they have doneŠ.They have provided medical care and seminars on various aspects of health-like nutrition, AIDS, and other STDsŠ.Our clients are told why it is important to take a medication, its side effects, and how to take it. It is a 100 percent success. Our clients are much more knowledgeable." Rachel Heerema, emergency shelter program coordinator of the Care Ways Shelter, is very pleased with the collaboration between Project HOPE and her shelter. In addition to basic health services and information collecting, Project HOPE volunteers work with the children in play groups and help raise needed funds. Heerema said, "They have not gotten much recognition up to nowŠtheir work is criticalŠ.They raised $800 for us, and they deserve some credit for it."
While the work of organizations such as Project HOPE is greatly appreciated, Willis Diggs, executive director of the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) and the Inter-City Community Coffee House, believes the program does secondary work. Project HOPE also brings nurses to DESK three or four times a week to check blood pressure, administer basic first aid, provide medical counseling, and make referrals. Diggs said, however, "They really have to get to the root causes. Meeting medical needs is good, but if someone is an alcoholic, you have to take care of the drinking problem first or that person just will not care about anything else." Diggs believes the program is meritorious but he has not seen any of his clients become self-sufficient through the work of Project HOPE.
Homelessness is on the rise and homelessness among families is the largest growing segment of this trend. "There are roughly 2,000 homeless people in and around New Haven and only about 145 beds for adult males and females. There are more homeless people than there are beds for them," Johnston said. New Haven currently allocates approximately $1 million to providing shelters with supplies for the winter.
Heerema believes the biggest problem in dealing with the homeless of New Haven right now is the effort of the Connecticut General Assembly wants to eliminate the Rental Assistance Program (RAP) which subsidizes housing costs for low-income families. "It is ludicrous to say that we're going to empower people to work and become self-sufficient if we cause them to lose their housing-and that's exactly what eliminating RAP would do. The government's idea of empowerment is to eliminate job training, to eliminate income support, and to eliminate housing supportŠ. It's like taking away the fish and trying to teach them how to fish at the same time," she said.
Diggs also said that he believes that New Haven is not dealing with homelessness effectively. He said that he feels New Haven has a commitment to house people and, judging by the abandoned houses and programs in the city, more can be done. "If enough pressure was put on them or if they thought it was important enough, they would do something. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. We have to make some squeaks."
Johnston also said that not enough people care. "Society needs to help people that cannot help themselvesŠ. People don't want to deal with homelessness right now because it is not a sexy topic."
"Many homeless people feel betrayed by the system and institutions that are supposed to help them. It is hard to get people to rely on us," Heerema said. DESK is already anticipating and gearing up for longer lines within a year. Nevertheless, there is reason to be optimistic. Diggs has seen former patrons come back as volunteers. In response to that, he said, "Sometimes you don't realize how much of a help you are."
Johnston looks forward to other localities duplicating programs like Project HOPE. "People are thrown out of institutions and families, and we are their last refuge," he said. "We love them when nobody else will and we care for them when nobody else will."
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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