The People Serving People homeless shelter in Minneapolis, Minnesota is the largest family shelter in the state. It has 99 rooms, a technology center, a licensed preschool. And on the first floor, it has a full-service medical clinic.
“For families in crisis, one of the biggest barriers to accessing health care is transportation,” said Martha Trevey, a nurse practitioner working with Healthcare for the Homeless, which runs the People Serving People clinic. “Here, they can just come downstairs.”
At the Minnesota clinic, care is targeted to the specific needs of the homeless. However, not all shelters have medical clinics on site, and outside of a those spaces, medical professionals might not recognize that a person or family is experiencing homelessness. That’s a problem, because homelessness is associated with a range of unique health risks, both physical and psychological. “It’s hard to be healthy when you don’t have a house,” said Andrew Barnes, professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
[For more on this story by NICOLE WETSMAN, go to https://www.thedailybeast.com/...ng-homeless-children]
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