Newswise — Poor and low income women who have no health insurance will be able to get a mammogram and the medical care they need, at the next Project Homeless Connect event on Wednesday, February 24th.
“Losing your home, your job or your health insurance shouldn’t mean you end up losing your life because you can’t afford a breast cancer screening,” says Judith Klain, Director of Project Homeless Connect. “That’s why being able to offer women who are homeless a mammogram is so important. It says to them your health is important, your life is important.”
California Pacific Medical Center, which is sponsoring the PHC event for the fourth time, is offering free mammograms, and follow-up care if necessary, to women at the event and scheduling future mammogram appointments for other women who sign up.
“Part of our job as a community-based hospital is to help fill in the gaps in care in our community,” says Warren Browner, MD, MPH, CEO of CPMC. “Government budget cuts mean that many programs that offer free mammograms for uninsured women are no longer able to do so. We’re happy to be able to step in and help those women get the screenings they need to protect their health.”
Last year alone Project Homeless Connect helped more than 10,300 poor and homeless San Franciscans gain access to services ranging from housing, SSI and General Assistance, to medical, dental and vision care. More than 1,000 clients were able to get their state DMV ID’s through PHC.
It is not just clients who get a lot out of the event; volunteers say taking part in PHC is tremendously rewarding for them. This time volunteers will get something extra. As part of its ‘Give a Day, Get a Disney Day’ program, Disney is offering a free one-day ticket to either Disneyland or Disneyworld, for anyone who volunteers for one day with Project Homeless Connect in 2010.
Project Homeless Connect is at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove Street in San Francisco, on Wednesday, February 24th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The program, which began in San Francisco five years ago, has become the model for more than 220 similar programs in other cities around the U.S.
For more information contact Kevin McCormack or go to www.projecthomelessconnect.com
About Project Homeless ConnectProject Homeless Connect makes a real difference in the lives of the City’s homeless by bringing together almost 250 non-profit agencies, private businesses and volunteers to assist San Franciscans in need. Since the program’s inception in October 2004 as a joint effort of San Francisco’s health care, housing and human service systems, Project Homeless Connect has been supported by tens of thousands of volunteers, individuals and companies giving their time, cash, clothing, food and essential services. To date, this program has provided services to thousands of the City’s most economically disadvantaged men, women and children with basic human needs and housing. Project Homeless Connect is a key component of Mayor Newsom’s 10-year plan to abolish homelessness in San Francisco. This unprecedented approach to helping the homeless has been adopted as a national model in more than 220 jurisdictions in the U.S and has also been implemented in Canada and Australia.
California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.At San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care, with kindness and compassion, in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That’s why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It’s why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support and wellness treatments. As one of California’s largest private, community-based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening and financial support in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods. Because medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life. www.cpmc.org
RSS