Helping the Homeless in this Cold Snap

Forbes is not the first place you think of for advice about what to do for the homeless in this terrible cold snap in most of the country, but they had an excellent article on hypothermia hotlines in big cities around the U.S.  

It's a nice little list of places around the country that can be called to get directions to warming shelters and maybe even people to pick up and help the homeless that are found outside.  And, of course, try 211 in your area or whatever information referral and information number works in your area.

Respite for Homeless People Who Need to Recover Their Health

Nowadays, hospitals don't keep people for long periods of time--they patch you up and ship you home to recover.  But what if you don't have a home?  En route to looking up other stuff, I found out that there are places around the country where the homeless rest and recover--when they are not sick enough to be in a hospital, but not well enough to go back on the streets.

They are respite homeless providers, and while there are just a few dozen in the U.S, they are gaining in numbers.  The National Health Care for the Homeless, an advocacy group in the U.S. and Canada, has a listing of all the homeless respite centers that they could identify in North America, along with a list of the qualifications--and disqualifications--to be a patient at each facility. 

If you are homeless, or know anyone who is homeless and needs medical help, here's a directory of agencies that receive funds to give medical care to the homeless.  They also link to a directory of public health care facilities that are free or sliding scale, and that can be searched by address, city or county.

Help for Homeless Veterans

It has been estimated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that over 60,000 American veterans are homeless.  The Veterans Administration has a created a program to help deal with this deplorable situation: the creation of Section 8 vouchers for housing for qualified, homeless veterans so that they can get the housing and case management they need to get and hold onto a place to live.  Many cities in the U.S. get an allocation of vouchers available for veterans in need. 

But there's a problem.  Homeless veterans often don't have the money for deposits or move-in costs to take advantage of the program. How to deal with this?  Veterans Matter, a group based in northwest Ohio, works with VA officials and funds deposit and move-in costs for veterans in the Toledo and southeast Michigan areas to make that housing a reality, quickly and without a bunch of overhead.  Veterans Matter only runs the local group, but other groups have sprouted up to fund expenses for the homeless veterans in their communities.  If you are a homeless veteran, or know one who could use help, call 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838), the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans, for more information.

Food and Help for the Pets of Homeless People

A colleage came across this website and pointed it out to me: a network of organizations that helps the pets of homeless people.  It sounded like a mighty tiny niche indeed, but according to their statistics, between 5% and 10% of homeless people own a dog or cat.  This sounds more reasonable when you consider that many are homeless for small periods of time, rather than for months or years on end.  I once volunteered in an animal shelter, and some animals landed there because their owners became homeless, through job loss, domestic violence, or other reasons.  How does Pets of the Homeless help?

First, they have an online list of places that provide pet food--and not all of them are animal food banks.  Some are shelters, some are religious organizations.  Another is a list of pet-friendly homeless shelters--ones that allow pets to stay.  It's a tiny list.  They have yet another list of different types of help, from spay/neutering and veterinary care.  And check out this list of events around the country to help with pet care.

Finally, don't miss our previous roundup of veterinary and food help for pets.