Making A Difference in Your Community : Health Clinic Comes to Aid of the Homeless

By the time the San Fernando Valley’s homeless reach the small health-care clinic geared for their needs, it is often after weeks of ignoring the symptoms of serious ailments--respiratory infections, abscessed teeth and sexually transmitted diseases.

“We’re so used to dealing with those kinds of problems,” said Henry Aldrete, director of the Homeless Health Care Project operated by the Northeast Valley Health Corp. at the Valley Shelter in North Hollywood.

“We get problems here that typically someone three weeks ago would normally have sought help (for),” said Ruth Trinidad, office coordinator. Homeless people, she said, have to focus more on where to sleep and how to eat rather than on getting treatment for headaches, toothaches or other health problems.

Poor diet and stress also create or worsen problems including diabetes and hypertension, Trinidad said.

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when the clinic is open, the medical staff sees about 25 clients each day. A pediatrician is on duty Tuesdays.

John Horn, the clinic’s case manager, refers homeless clients to other needed services and helps in writing resumes and job searches.

“I think we do an excellent resume here,” said Horn, who has written about 50 resumes in the past two years.

Horn must sort through lives fractured by prison terms, broken marriages and drug abuse and, then, lift out the remaining skills and experiences that may get homeless people in for an interview with an employer.

“We don’t do a lot of lying,” Horn said. Sometimes, he said, dates are left off employment histories so that large gaps between jobs are not so obvious. “Some things we try to make look better.”

As with the rest of the clinic workers, Horn does not often hear if his work helped. Those who succeed usually do not keep in touch, he said.

“This is not a part of a person’s life you want to highlight,” Horn said. “You want to put it behind you.”

That kind of feedback is not what makes working in the clinic rewarding, Aldrete said.

“It would not be rewarding if we tracked our outcomes,” Aldrete said. “Sometimes you have success, but sometimes you have someone who overdosed and died.”

But every once in a while clinic personnel do get some thanks. Last week, a Spanish-speaking man returned to visit after the clinic referred him to Olive View Medical Center.

It was only after a complete physical at the clinic that the man was able to get the help he needed. Before he visited the clinic, the hospital had seemed too cold and impersonal to deal with, and the man had had trouble explaining his symptoms.

After a preliminary evaluation by the clinic, the hospital found the man had a brain tumor, plus kidney problems and other ailments. But he finally got the treatment he needed, Aldrete said.

The reward for clinic volunteers is just in knowing they have helped someone, Trinidad said. “At least we did something for them. It keeps us going.”

The clinic is in need of office volunteers to help with paperwork. Horn needs help finding listings of available jobs and preparing clients with mock job interviews. To volunteer, call Aldrete or Horn at (818) 765-8656.

Other volunteering opportunities:

The Jewish Elder-Care Corps, sponsored by the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, needs volunteers to adopt and visit elderly of all faiths in nursing homes and residential facilities. For more information call (818) 905-5421.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338.