SALVATION
ARMY |
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SALVATION
ARMY |
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| "It is one of the most
beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without
helping himself." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| People often conceive of homeless
shelters as "flop houses" with all of the negative connotations that go along
with the concept. A visit to the Salvation Army’s homeless shelter on Edison Avenue
will quickly dispel that image. The shelter, called the Red Shield Lodge, is clean,
modern, and secure. In contrast to the traditional image of "drunken bums"
laying around on cots and stealing each others’ bottles, clients on the Salvation
Army premises are sober and there is no smoking in the building. Many of the clients are
women and children. The Salvation Army equipped a Primary Care Clinic and an Interim Care Center in its Red Shield Lodge homeless shelter. Volunteer physicians and nurses staff the clinic in the evenings with the help of staff nurses and medical assistants. A day-time pediatric clinic was recently added. Usually one or two volunteers take a two to three hour shift in the clinic a few times a year. Some volunteer physicians also accept Salvation Army referrals in their private offices, and Salvation Army referrals are accepted by Lee We Care, ensuring that adequate resources are available when a patient is seriously ill. There is an "easy" atmosphere in the clinic, with volunteers, staff and patients treating each other with respect and humor. Patients present with a variety of medical problems, ranging from the drug and alcohol-associated diseases such as Hepatitis C and psychiatric illness to heart disease, strokes, pneumonia, uncontrolled diabetes, and sore throats. Sometimes volunteers have a chance to dramatically help the Salvation Army’s clients. For example, a plastic surgeon constructed an ear on a child who previously had only one. Licensed health care volunteers of the Salvation Army are protected from liability with sovereign immunity by Florida’s Department of Health. According to Wayne Levy, R.N., Director of the Salvation Army Primary Care Clinic and Interim Care Center, "In this one-room clinic in the last year, our physicians have donated $1,200,000 in service and supplies." |
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