Medical Respite Program Facility opens to help homeless recover after medical treatment
REDDING, Calif. — Shasta Community Health Center and Pathways to Housing have teamed up to create a facility for the homeless to recover after medical treatment.
The facility opened Friday afternoon and is a part of their Medical Respite Program which creates a safe and clean space for homeless people.
It has a medical center, common room, and beds for people to stay up to eight weeks while they recover. There are 15 beds in total to hold 10 men and 5 women, and they receive continuous treatment while at the facility.
Amber Middleton, Shasta Community Health Center representative, said it not only provides a safe place to stay while they recover, but it also prevents resources from being drawn away from local hospitals.
“We get great patient feedback from individuals who say they feel seen, they feel respected, they have felt safe they have felt valued and that’s because of the work both agencies have been putting into this,” Middleton said.
Lesha Schaefer, Pathways to Housing executive director, said the facility was supposed to open in late 2021 but the pandemic and COVID supply chain issues slowed the process.
Schaefer said it’s been a long journey but extremely rewarding for both teams to learn how to work together to help the Northstate’s homeless population now and in the future.
“It’s amazing that this is finally happening,” Schaefer said. “It’s been so long it’s always felt like a distant dream. Something that we just always talked about and here we are. It’s the day, we’re opening and it’s just exciting.”
For more information on who qualifies and how to donate you can visit Pathways' website to see all of the options.
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