March 14, 2013: Teach-in: Intersections of Healthcare and Homelessness
Here at RIMAP we are very proud to have held our first ever undergraduate sensitivity training session this month! Aimed to be a lecture-style sensitivity training, the teach-in was geared towards those interested in public health and homelessness. Our guests, Frank Nolan of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and Dr. Thomas O'Toole, the National Director of the Homeless Veteran Patient Aligned Care Team, as well as our own advocates Barbara Kalil and Pearse Haley, were the key speakers at the event, hosted by our co-ordinator Jackie. Jackie outlined our project's goals, while Pearse shared his experiences on outreach and discussed student activism. Dr. O'Toole preached the importance of compassionate care, and Barbara and Frank shared personal tales of discrimination to our audience, who we are grateful to for having attended and being so attentive. We hope to host more events for undergrads at Brown in the coming year!
The event was covered in the following article by the Brown Daily Herald: http://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/03/15/health-for-homeless-addressed-in-teach-in/
The event was covered in the following article by the Brown Daily Herald: http://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/03/15/health-for-homeless-addressed-in-teach-in/
March 1, 2013: Beats for Blankets
HOPE's third annual Beats for Blankets concert took place on March 1st, and was a resounding success. Hosted by RIMAP coordinators Jackie and Jana, the event was a fantastic celebration of Brown University's musical talent, featuring a cappella and rock performances, Mariachi de Brown, and poetry from two very special guests from the Providence community. We raised over $120 for HOPE and collected lots of blankets to be distributed to the homeless community by the Nighttime Outreach program.
February 2013: Canvassing in Cranston
Members of RIMAP are spending every second Saturday accompanying their friends from HOPE in Cranston canvassing in support of moving the State's largest congregate men's shelter from Harrington Hall to the Gloria McDonald center, replacing it with a Triage and Assessment Center.
Harrington Hall is run by House of Hope CDC and is the state's shelter of "last resort" for homeless men, who could not find a bed anywhere else, and therefore has a policy of never turning anyone away. The shelter has about 88 beds, but on any given night it can have about 120 people staying there. As anyone who has visited (or even passed by) the shelter would say, the building is in a horribly dilapidated condition - the roof is falling apart, and would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair, there are only a three toilets and two showers, and there is no privacy for those staying there - there are 88 bunk beds in one large room.
HOPE supports House of Hope CDC's petition to move Harrington Hall's facility to the Gloria McDonald Center, as this is a vacant, and much larger facility that would offer:
HOPE's third annual Beats for Blankets concert took place on March 1st, and was a resounding success. Hosted by RIMAP coordinators Jackie and Jana, the event was a fantastic celebration of Brown University's musical talent, featuring a cappella and rock performances, Mariachi de Brown, and poetry from two very special guests from the Providence community. We raised over $120 for HOPE and collected lots of blankets to be distributed to the homeless community by the Nighttime Outreach program.
February 2013: Canvassing in Cranston
Members of RIMAP are spending every second Saturday accompanying their friends from HOPE in Cranston canvassing in support of moving the State's largest congregate men's shelter from Harrington Hall to the Gloria McDonald center, replacing it with a Triage and Assessment Center.
Harrington Hall is run by House of Hope CDC and is the state's shelter of "last resort" for homeless men, who could not find a bed anywhere else, and therefore has a policy of never turning anyone away. The shelter has about 88 beds, but on any given night it can have about 120 people staying there. As anyone who has visited (or even passed by) the shelter would say, the building is in a horribly dilapidated condition - the roof is falling apart, and would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair, there are only a three toilets and two showers, and there is no privacy for those staying there - there are 88 bunk beds in one large room.
HOPE supports House of Hope CDC's petition to move Harrington Hall's facility to the Gloria McDonald Center, as this is a vacant, and much larger facility that would offer:
- 6 beds to a room
- A day centre and a safe space for the homeless community
- Triage facilities
- Detox and rehabilitation treatments
- Staff to help the homeless search for housing opportunities
House of Hope CDC's proposal must be given the green light by RI Governor Lincoln Chafee in order for this plan to go ahead. Unfortunately, until now House of Hope has been unsuccessful in their bid to pass this plan, as Governor Chafee has been lobbied by a number of groups in the Cranston area using discriminatory language against the homeless (calling them "animals" and making inappropriate generalisations about the homeless as sex offenders) to stop the plan.
RIMAP and HOPE members come together once a fortnight to canvass the area, with a petition and an information sheet from House of Hope CDC. We aim to have the approval of 100 houses in the immediate neighbourhood, to prove to Governor Chafee that there is, in fact, popular support for this move, and are getting close to our target, after only two short canvassing trips.
No comments:
Post a Comment