Westminster Respite Facility offers medical care for homeless
News Story by Morgen White | FāVS News
Spokane’s Westminster United Church of Christ on 411 S. Washington St. held an open house Friday to showcase a new program that aims to break the cycle of homelessness that many fall into when they have medical issues.
The Westminster Respite Facility will offer medical support for those with acute or chronic ailments. This will give 30 people shelter and access to healthcare. Without this program they would typically be in and out of the hospital and have no place to go when they are discharged.
Dr. Robert Lippman has been in clinical behavioral health for 12 years. He is the manager for the Providence Community Clinic, which has been serving homeless people in the Spokane area for almost 50 years. The clinic, “originated inside of the shelter system and was called Sacred Heart Medical Center outreach clinic. So this is a way to get back to the roots of that outreach service with volunteers and medical students,” Lippman said.
The National Healthcare for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) reports the national average stay in respite programs is 7-14 days. This care will be a bit more lengthy. The amount of time per stay will depend on the patient and their medical needs, Lippman said.
He will also coordinate care for those at the facility. This means that if they don’t already have a primary case manager that responsibility would fall to him.
Lippman said he deeply resonates with the mission of Providence, which was founded on Christian values.
“It means a lot to partner in this fashion, in a faith-based church, faith-based organizations with Jewels and with Providence, as well,” Lippman said.
This is all made possible through a partnership between the City of Spokane, Providence, Empire Health Foundation and Jewels Helping Hands.
The story behind Jewels Helping Hands
Julie Garcia founded Jewels Helping Hands after a series of events in her life.
Garcia was raised in poverty, and she went on to raise her four children in poverty as well. Sometimes that meant she’d have to sacrifice her needs to make sure they got theirs.
“My daughter is a heroin addict. I raised my nine year old granddaughter because of it, and when she started using heroin, I didn’t know anything about homelessness. I’ve never paid attention to what was going on in our city. And then once my daughter became addicted, I started to learn, these are the things that come with some of that stuff,” Garcia said.
Garcia started helping out. She stood outside the House of Charity on 32 W. Pacific Ave. and passed sandwiches that she had made. While doing this she realized that folks needed more than just food.
She moved on to asking all her neighbors to donate clothes, coats and blankets. Finally Garcia realized that she could do more for her community and continued to find ways to fill the gaps other programs and services couldn’t.
“We just started building from there. This is our 11th shelter that we’ve opened, either pop up or still standing, and it’s kind of progressed since then, and we’ve found what we’re really good at,” Garcia said.
The organization works with Garcia coming up with the ideas, the board how to pay for them and then the staff figuring out details on how they can provide those services.
“My goal is to change homelessness from the policy level for the betterment of people experiencing homelessness in our community and in our country as a whole,” Garcia said.
Lawsuit about the City’s homelessness policies
While the City of Spokane is a partner in this project, Jewels Helping Hands currently has two lawsuits against the City for criminalizing homelessness and “unfair” land use laws.
“I’m just a person with lived experience that understands that there’s so many similarities between people experiencing homelessness and single moms who don’t have the resources necessary to make ends meet,” Garcia said.
She wants to figure out how to help folks without providing services that actually hinder or cause more trauma, which is the reason behind the lawsuits.
‘Helping people in need’
During the open house many guests and visitors walked in and out. They peered in the back rooms to take a look at the beds and how the facility would look. Most of the guests pertained to the medical field or their visit was work-related, but one couple stood apart.
Gloria and Louis Hinshaw have been members of the Westminster UCC for nine years and were eager to visit the space.
“We were just totally behind this idea and just thrilled that we could use this beautiful facility. It’s old, but it’s got space and that it could be made into something that would help people,” Gloria Hinshaw said.
Louis Hinshaw said he’s been excited to see this process come together and is proud their church is a part of this.
“We’ve been having regular reports on Sundays about the progress, and it’s so amazing, we had to come down check it out for ourselves to see,” Louis Hinshaw said.
They say that this is what church is all about. Helping people in need.
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