Health Care for the Homeless
Emery Shelter
1725 Lincoln Road, NE
Washington, DC 20017

http://www.nhchc.org

Anticipated Project(s): Healthcare for the Homeless Education Project
The team members will have the opportunity to develop, deliver, and evaluate health presentations for residents of a DC homeless shelter/transitional home for men.  Residents of the shelter and students from the 2008-2009 ISCOPES team identified various topics to be discussed in the future (e.g. PTSD and veterans, eating healthy on a tight budge, using the computer for research, in addition to on-going health topics such as colon cancer, prostate health, high-blood pressure, etc.).  The new ISCOPES team will update the resident survey and continue to offer health-related learning sessions that engage the men in dialogue and shared learning.   

Expectations of Team Members
Each team member will be expected to help co-lead at least two presentations each semester, attend the team meetings and participate in developing presentations which can be used by other team members. Presentations are on Thursday evenings from 6-8pm.

Past Projects
The 2008-09 Healthcare for the Homeless ISCOPES team continued their partnership with the Emery Shelter, a 6 month work/bed arrangement. The team provided health education sessions to the men who live there. The sessions were interactive and largely discussion based on topics that the men designated to be important or interesting to them.  Topics included healthcare reform and prostate cancer among others. In addition, the team organized participants and supported the DC Fannie Mae Walk for the Homeless on the national mall as did the 2007-2008 team.

The 2007-08 team administered surveys to identify specific needs of Emery Shelter residents and designed presentations accordingly. Topics included: diabetes, heart disease, nutrition, and a four-part series on mental health. Another accomplishment was the publication of two articles written by HCH in the Street Sense newspaper, a local newspaper that spreads awareness of the issues of homelessness. Moreover, the team co-sponsored a GW-wide Hunger Banquet with the Office of Community Service to raise awareness of the relationship between health and homelessness.

Site Description
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) is an organization that advocates for the health of the nations homeless population. NHCHC advocates for universal healthcare in the United States, researches critical issues, trains health professionals to improve the care of the homeless, publishes newsletters, training videos, and other educational resources, and collaborates with both public and private entities to solve problems faced by the homeless. NHCHC is active in Washington, DC and is supported by Unity Healthcare, Inc. On any given day in the District, there are 7,225 homeless individuals. In 2001, 16,350 individuals experienced homelessness. The District’s homeless rate is twice the national average.

Emery Shelter provides transitional housing for males for periods of 6-12 months.  The majority of the residents are middle-aged African-Americans.  Residents must be substance free while living in the shelter.