8:10am Thursday 29th July 2010
Most of us think homelessness is something that happens to other people. Yet when you hear the stories of homeless people in Oxford, you realise that many end up in this situation due to circumstances that could happen to any of us. The credit crunch and recession has forced thousands out of work, into debt and out of their homes.
War leaves soldiers traumatised and disorientated when they return home: a significant number of ex-military personnel sleep rough for some time after their discharge from the forces.
The experience of homelessness then piles problem on to problem: people suffer depression and other mental health problems, their physical health suffers, they turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. Luther Street Medical Centre in Oxford, provides health services exclusively for homeless people.
Their patients live a perilous, hand-to-mouth existence, suffer from a chronic lack of confidence, depression and other mental health problems, and may feel self-conscious and threatened by people in authority. So they often do not attend hospital and other health-related appointments arranged for them by Luther Street doctors. This can seriously damage their already poor health.
Oxford Homeless Medical Fund is a small charity that supports the work of the medical centre in a number of ways.
This year, our biggest project has been to set up a project to help patients to attend their appointments. The project recruits, and trains volunteers who are matched up with patients to help them to remember the time and day of the appointment, find their way there on public transport, and will go into the appointment with the patient if that’s what they want. It is still early days, but so far, the project has had excellent results. We will be running a new training course for volunteers in October 2010 and we are looking for volunteers.
If you think you could undertake this challenging but enormously rewarding role, are over 18, and can offer us 3-4 hours a week during weekdays, we would love to hear from you.
To receive an information and application pack, contact Jan Penrose, Volunteer Co-ordinator, Luther Street Medical Centre, telephone: 01865 792126; or send an email to: ohmfvolunteers@btconnect.com
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