Shelters offer health care to homeless

By Allison Jagow and Patrick Simons
Bengal News reporters
 Winter is approaching at a rapid pace and with that comes the cold and flu season. Shelters like Loaves and Fishes and Friends of Night People exist to provide health services to those who need it most, and have no real means of providing it for themselves.

Friends of Night People Joseph Heary in medical exam room

 Friends of Night People has been lending helping hands to those who need it in Buffalo for over 40 years. Established in 1969, originally on Chippewa Street, Friends of Night People was first organized by the Rev. John Russell, as a crisis services and suicide prevention center.
 “I just think it was a marvelous way to bring people together from all walks of life to share their humanity and their pain to give acceptance and love to each other,” Russell said.
 Now located at 394 Hudson St., at the corner of Wadsworth, Friends of Night People has developed into an organization that provides food, clothing and medical services to anyone in need, including the homeless, poor, mentally ill and addicted.
 “People deserve a level of dignity, care and respect, no matter what position they’re in in their life at that moment, whether it’s homelessness, whether it’s short on money, don’t have enough food,” said Joseph Heary, the current executive director at Friends of Night People. “It’s just people taking care of people, is what our organization is really all about.”
 In addition to providing clothing and hot meals 365 days a year, the organization also offers medical services on a weekly basis. Students from the UB School of Medicine and independent doctors volunteer their time and efforts at Friends of Night People to offer services in general medicine, podiatry and optometry. During each clinic, the organization serves about 20 to 25 people—some by appointment and others as walk-in patients, Heary said.
 Heary, who has been the executive director at Friends of Night People for a little over three years, was once a member of the corporate world. He said that he wanted a job with a more meaningful outcome, aside from just making a penny.

Joseph Heary, on the work of Friends of Night People:


 Loaves and Fishes Dining Room is another local organization that offers services to the homeless or people in need. Located at 875 Elmwood Ave., Loaves and Fishes offers a lunch service Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It also occasionally offers a few health services.
 The Niagara County Community College nursing program comes in during November and holds three workshops on topics such as hypertension, hypothermia, diabetes and alcoholism. Anne Harrington, program coordinator for Loaves and Fishes, said the workshops give the clients a more comfortable and non-threatening surrounding to discuss their health issues.
 “They really do get through to a lot of people. And I know this year, at least two people went right to the doctor after that. So if only those two people went, it’s still a good thing,” said Harrington.
 Loaves and Fishes also held a program in 2009 that offered health insurance to people in need. It teamed up with Univera Healthcare and Medicaid to try to get as many people as possible to sign up for the healthcare coverage, according to Harrington. They - GR also host occasional health clinics that offer flu shots, blood pressure screenings and general health information.
  “The staff that comes here is doing it really out of their compassion for mankind, and fellow human beings who are in need of some assistance,” Heary said.
Loaves and Fishes and Friends of Night People both offer a warm shelter, warm food, and health screenings to treat and prevent sickness.

Edited by Heidi Friend