The Servant Center helps unhoused veterans in Greensboro
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Trying to live on the streets is difficult for anyone, but for the elderly or disabled, it can be even harder to survive.
On any given night, an estimated 138,000 older adults are without a home. That is on top of the more than 35,000 veterans sleeping on the streets or in shelters, but there is a group in Guilford County working to change that and get these people the care they need with the help of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
Check out the difference Community Foundations are making here in the Piedmont Triad
"If you take somebody who's been living outside for a year or two and you put them in housing, it changes their whole world. They have a safe place to be. They can take care of their health," says Shanna Reece, the Executive Director at The Servant Center. The nonprofit has worked with the homeless for 30 years running a shelter in partnership with the V.A. They also operate 17 permanent supportive housing apartments for veterans, but their work goes beyond just veterans. It's for other disabled members of the homeless community.
Reece says The Servant Center helps people file for disability benefits. "We do a couple hundred claims every year for uninsured and underinsured folks to help them file for benefits." They have teams of volunteers and staff helping these people through the process, getting them housing, the benefits they qualify for, and the health care they need, including what they call a new medical respite program.
That program will run out of a building The Servant Center recently bought. Reece says it will make a big difference. "It was a nursing home, and we are going to be able to add 22 brand new beds to our portfolio programs," says Reece. "That will be for medical respite, and this is for those with disabilities, primarily older adults that are in the hospital or need someplace to come and recover. They don't need to be in the hospital, but they also cannot safely recover on the street for wounds and all those other things."
While this program is new to The Servant Center, it is something that has been done by other organizations across the country. They plan on opening the new respite center this coming March, but until then, they need volunteers to help with everything from food drives to landscaping. Reece says "we can have all kinds of different opportunities for people with different skills and backgrounds."
