Blessing the Homeless Medically

To assist the men who God sends our way, we have seen a need for providing some medical services.  Without a doubt the men who visit here have both a great resilience to the hardships of living on the streets and under the bridges and they have a susceptibility to many illnesses.  We have been blessed to have two full time nurses on staff, two consistent volunteer nurses and a volunteer doctor who tends to the immediate needs of our guests.  Over the years we’ve established the proper medical protocols and have had 10’s of thousands of visits in the medical offices.  In December of 2011 alone we had over 1,000 visits for everything from common colds, to recent discharges from area hospitals with no where to go, to mentally ill men.  We are remarkably blessed with staff to help who live compassionately with professionalism and consistency and love. 

One aspect is to train the men to take care of themselves.  In the long term program (CLP) we have several men usually on hand who need to be trained to manage their medication intake.   They report to medical on a weekly basis and fill their week’s worth of medication.  They are given their bottles of meds and taught how to read the labels and then put the daily amounts in the daily slots of the medicine containers they will carry with them.  All part of making sure they are being medicated right and learning to manage their own medication intake.

(Written by Gary Mountz, Director of Men's Ministries at City Union Mission)

Medical Services at City Union Mission

One of our many ministries at City Union Mission is Medical Services.  The majority of homeless clients enter the shelter with many health needs ranging from the average winter cold to severely high blood pressure and even cancer.  Medical Services has the incredible privilege to be the hands of feet of Jesus as we care directly for the physical needs of the clients.  Our desire is to share the love of Christ with these clients as we help to care for their physical conditions.

Medical Services assists several patients every day with over the counter medication, health education, prescription cost assistance, transportation assistance, and referrals to local doctors.  Our nurses currently assist homeless patients who walk in off the street, as well as clients who are a part of our long-term programs.  We work very closely with our long-term clients to help them adequately address their health needs and establish consistent, on-going primary medical care.     

Recently our nurse was working with an older gentleman of our Christian Life Program (long-term program for men).  During his first week on the program, he came to Medical Services for his health assessment and it was discovered that he had severely high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease.  Through the weeks, he has struggled to navigate through many doctor's appointments, medication changes, and even an emergency hospitalization.  As we have assisted him through all of the changes, he is now living healthy again and is beginning to be able to navigate the health system on his own.  

This winter Medical Services has seen a large increase in patient encounters.  In December alone, we had 970 patient visits.  Due to the huge influx of patient visits, Medical Services has run out of several, vital over the counter medications.  We are currently in need of:

• Cold Medication (tabs preferred--easier to hand out 1-2 doses, non-alcohol based)
• Sinus Medication (no sudafed)
• Advil/Ibuprofen
• Tylenol/Acetaminophen
• Multi-vitamins
• Cough drops
• Benedryl/Diphenhydramine

Please consider partnering with City Union Mission to provide basic medical care for these clients.  If you are interested in finding out more about Medical Services and volunteer needs please visit our website HERE.

(Written by Lucy Akins, Medical Services Supervisor at City Union Mission)

Christian Life Program Men Grow in New Patterns of Righteousness

Some of the men on the Christian Life Program are there because of some adverse or difficult life circumstances, but virtually all of the men on the Christian Life Program are in recovery because of bad choices and/or struggles with addictions of some sort. Hiding, covering up, lying, manipulation are very much issues they have to address to experience God's grace and healing.

 The men on the program are not allowed to have outside jobs for the first 85% of their time here on the program. In place of an income, they are provided with either $5 or $10 a week as an allowance, depending on where they are in the program.

Recently, a CLP staff member was distributing weekly allowances to the men. One client was accidentally handed 6 one dollar bills instead of the 5 he was to receive. The client counted his money and handed a 1 dollar bill back, saying he should only have 5.

Shortly after that, another man was handed $10 when he should have only been given $5. The staff member had inadvertently read the wrong line. The client handed $5 back to the staff member, saying he shouldn't have received that much.

Shortly after that, the staff member was speaking with another client about his allowance. The allowance roster indicated he should receive $10. The client was in the last part of his program and had just gotten a job. He had an income now and knew that was when allowances stopped. He could have taken the $10 allowance and no one would have known the difference, but he did not.

What was meaningful about these three instances was that each man could have gotten away with something to their advantage and to someone else' loss. But because they listened to a still small voice from the Holy Spirit, they did not yield to their normal patterns of hiding, covering up, lying or manipulating. They were setting new patterns of godliness, righteousness and holiness. Each of the 3 men was thanked as each incident happened and encouraged in what the staff member saw in their personal growth.

What a privilege to be in the ministry of the Kingdom of Christ! New creations!

(Written by Bret Kroh - Assistant Administrator of the Christian Life Program at City Union Mission)

Moving Beyond Routine Responses

A development we have come to deal with in ministering to the homeless men of the KC metro area is that they do not normally, habitually take responsibility to change their lives.  They, like all humans, develop “comfort zones” even if it is by all appearances uncomfortable to others.  We have undertaken processes to help them see the opportunities for a new life that is in front of them.  When men come to the emergency shelter and remain just as guests for a long period of time (years) we call upon an “intervention team” to meet with the man to discuss his future.  Options are presented as we prayfully look with them for a future to their lives.  Of course we are first interested in their spiritual lives, a real, living relationship with Jesus, but then we help them see other options for living outside the walls of the Mission. 

In our long-term program men again get stuck in a “comfort zone” not making progress as the program is designed, or they begin to go backwards.  We then meet with them using a 2-page questionnaire called the 'Opportunity For Change'.  It deals with the choices and behaviors that the man has been making and living and guides them to see the options available to them.

Both of these techniques can help move the men forward in their lives.  Now you have another inside look into the Men’s Ministry at City Union Mission.

(Written by Gary Mountz, Director of Men's Ministries)