“Pass the Mic” is a storytelling space featuring the voices and stories of people with a lived experience of homelessness. Read this story from family man Oscar Riaz, translated from the original Spanish.
Recent Profiles
To know the people we care for and the people who make that care happen is to know Health Care for the Homeless. Our promise to you: Getting to know them will make your life just a little bit richer.
Women in crisis have a safe space and excellent care because of you. Your support makes sure women like Linda Mason get care when they need it most.
Linda’s world flipped upside down when her cancer returned two years ago. Isolated and afraid, Linda turned to alcohol to numb the pain and fear. Luckily, she knew where she could go for help.
When you first meet Kara Demindes, you’re struck by her unshakable resolve. Born at just 24 weeks, Kara spent the first nine months of her life in the hospital, fighting to survive. “I held on,” she says. “And I’m still holding on today.”
Vanessa has the kind of smile that lights up a room. But those perfect teeth, and the joy behind them, once seemed out of reach.
“I never thought I’d be able to have teeth,” she said, fighting back tears. “I thought I would never smile again.”
We don’t know what the future holds for David.*
Before he could get his late-stage cancer treated, David’s oncologist told him that his mouth had to be cleared of all infection.
Parita Patel, our Dental Director, did what she could. She conducted an exam and pulled many of his infected teeth. But David needed oral surgery with sedation to safely remove all the damaged teeth.
Kara Nelson signed up to volunteer as a way to get to know her Constellation coworkers better. But after helping nearly 200 people get warm coats and hearing their stories, Kara walked away with an entirely new understanding of homelessness.
I’m a proud two-year member of the Rock Your Socks 5K team, A Solid Case of the Runs.
All credit for the punny team name goes to my social work friend and team captain, Kim Riopelle—your Supportive Housing Coordinator at Health Care for the Homeless.
Kicking a bad habit doesn’t happen overnight. Many of us struggle with things like quitting smoking or cutting out junk food from our diets for years. But we keep taking baby steps—until finally, it sticks.
The same goes for substance use.
Do you remember the last time you moved? The excitement, the stress? Buying new supplies and home goods, getting water and electricity turned on and leaving a familiar community is hard for all of us—even in the best of times.
Imagine navigating this transition with little money for necessities and no family or friends to help. That’s what Ben and Mary are doing.
Last winter, Ray Fitzberger got frostbite on his legs and feet. Doctors had to remove three toes on his left foot. Not long after the surgery, Ray was released from the hospital.
Every day, people we know and love undergo surgery to address life-threatening conditions. If they have no place to go, they get discharged back to the streets.