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Local homeless get helping hand
Church hosts event offering people free STD tests and other medical services and help finding jobs.
By Jason Wells
SOUTHWEST GLENDALE — Dozens of homeless people from Glendale and surrounding cities got the full treatment Thursday in the basement of St. Mary’s Apostolic Church, from essential medical testing to manicures and haircuts.
The event was organized to connect the chronically homeless, who are typically visible on sidewalks and loitering in public spaces, to a wide range of services offered through about 30 local and county nonprofit and government agencies.
For Rickey Butler, who has been homeless for about 18 months, access to job assistance and referrals to other services in an all-inclusive environment was invaluable.
“I’m looking for ideas to help me,” he said.
Perched with his hand extended at the manicure station, the 53-year-old former security guard said finding work was his top priority after a foot ulcer put him out of commission for a year.
“Sometimes an injury is all it takes to knock you off the box, so to speak,” Butler said.
He had already obtained referrals on how to procure a guard patrol car and start working again, he said.
What started out in the morning as a quiet assembly had, by noon, turned into a buzzing service fair, with almost every station tending to the needs of a homeless person, be it information on housing, clothing donations, referrals to medical care providers, or completion of applications for retirement, disability and Medicare.
The chronically homeless population has been a hard group to reach and fold into existing services because many of them suffer from mental illness, health problems or substance abuse issues.
Their transient lifestyle also puts them at risk of neglecting medical needs, service providers say.
A mobile health clinic from the Northeast Valley Health Corporation, which services low-income patients, was parked at the church Thursday performing 10-minute HIV tests and other STD screening.
Patients were given taxi vouchers, bus tokens and grocery gift cards as incentives to follow up with appointments at clinics and other medical service providers.
“We’re just hoping that they come back,” said Jorge Orellana, health education specialist for the corporation.
The unpredictability of chronic transients makes offering services somewhat of a vague venture. With no phone or permanent address, follow-up appointments for medical care or other services are often dependent on the memory and ability of clients to get to various locations, providers said.
A January 2007 one-day count found 79 chronically homeless people in Glendale, but reaching this so-called “service-resistant” group has been challenging since almost all of the programs offered through the city’s comprehensive set of homeless service providers has entry criteria banning drugs and alcohol. Few programs can handle those with mental illness.
The county turned down PATH Achieve’s $1.85-million proposal for a 24-hour shelter designed specifically to accommodate chronic transients in March, sending the city’s largest homeless services provider and community development officials back to the drawing board.
Also in March, the only daily homeless meals program offered in the city was suspended indefinitely after administrators could not find a permanent location to continue the operation.
With the odds stacked against them, it’s the little things that can make all the difference, from getting information on services to a haircut and make-up kit, organizers at the event said.
“It makes people feel good, and that’s important,” said PATH Achieve Executive Director Natalie Profant-Komuro, who helped organize the event.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
The event was organized to connect the chronically homeless, who are typically visible on sidewalks and loitering in public spaces, to a wide range of services offered through about 30 local and county nonprofit and government agencies.
For Rickey Butler, who has been homeless for about 18 months, access to job assistance and referrals to other services in an all-inclusive environment was invaluable.
“I’m looking for ideas to help me,” he said.
Perched with his hand extended at the manicure station, the 53-year-old former security guard said finding work was his top priority after a foot ulcer put him out of commission for a year.
“Sometimes an injury is all it takes to knock you off the box, so to speak,” Butler said.
He had already obtained referrals on how to procure a guard patrol car and start working again, he said.
What started out in the morning as a quiet assembly had, by noon, turned into a buzzing service fair, with almost every station tending to the needs of a homeless person, be it information on housing, clothing donations, referrals to medical care providers, or completion of applications for retirement, disability and Medicare.
The chronically homeless population has been a hard group to reach and fold into existing services because many of them suffer from mental illness, health problems or substance abuse issues.
Their transient lifestyle also puts them at risk of neglecting medical needs, service providers say.
A mobile health clinic from the Northeast Valley Health Corporation, which services low-income patients, was parked at the church Thursday performing 10-minute HIV tests and other STD screening.
Patients were given taxi vouchers, bus tokens and grocery gift cards as incentives to follow up with appointments at clinics and other medical service providers.
“We’re just hoping that they come back,” said Jorge Orellana, health education specialist for the corporation.
The unpredictability of chronic transients makes offering services somewhat of a vague venture. With no phone or permanent address, follow-up appointments for medical care or other services are often dependent on the memory and ability of clients to get to various locations, providers said.
A January 2007 one-day count found 79 chronically homeless people in Glendale, but reaching this so-called “service-resistant” group has been challenging since almost all of the programs offered through the city’s comprehensive set of homeless service providers has entry criteria banning drugs and alcohol. Few programs can handle those with mental illness.
The county turned down PATH Achieve’s $1.85-million proposal for a 24-hour shelter designed specifically to accommodate chronic transients in March, sending the city’s largest homeless services provider and community development officials back to the drawing board.
Also in March, the only daily homeless meals program offered in the city was suspended indefinitely after administrators could not find a permanent location to continue the operation.
With the odds stacked against them, it’s the little things that can make all the difference, from getting information on services to a haircut and make-up kit, organizers at the event said.
“It makes people feel good, and that’s important,” said PATH Achieve Executive Director Natalie Profant-Komuro, who helped organize the event.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
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