Project Hope’s Winter Walk Raises More Than $14,000 for Medical Care for Homeless in Wheeling
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WHEELING -- While the weather failed to cooperate with the intentions of organizers, Project HOPE's Winter Walk still drew a crowd of about 100 people to sympathize with the plight of the local homeless.
Winter Walk events are typically held on days when the temperature drops below freezing, to get walkers accustomed to what the homeless population struggles with every winter. On Saturday morning, a light drizzle fell from a dark and cloudy sky, and Project HOPE Director Crystal Bauer said the assembled walkers finished the walk, which was scheduled from 8-11 a.m., in record time -- less than half an hour. The mile-long walk tours various points in the city, marked with signs advertising resources available to the homeless.
"We were hoping the weather would be bad, below freezing, so when people are out walking they can experience, just for a short time, what someone experiences with homelessness," Bauer said. "A lot of times we hear things like, 'Why can't they just go to something like Catholic Charities?' And yes, while they do help with a lot, they (Catholic Charities) don't help with everything. They're not open 24 hours. We hope this helps people get a better understanding of what resources are available to the homeless, and at what times."
Regardless of the duration of the event, Bauer said the walk serves as a fundraiser -- a mission that this year's walk accomplished in spades. Bauer said the money raised -- in excess of $14,300 -- would go toward medical care, which is undertaken with the assistance of Ohio County Health Officer Dr. William Mercer.
"One-hundred percent of the money we raise goes directly back into the mission. This money will be used toward our mobile medical unit that we're getting ready to order," Bauer said. "It will allow us to put things on the unit that we did not budget for -- wall-mounted blood pressure cuff, opthalmoscope, lights, a computer. The mobile unit is going to allow us to move outside the city and work county-wide, so that we're able to deliver services on-site."
"We do know there are people sleeping in abandoned houses county-wide," she added. "There are people sleeping in tents. There are plenty of people sleeping in vehicles. Because we are a county health project, it has always been our goal to work outside the city."
Mercer added that the group's efforts have been recognized by the local homeless population, and that many of those people are willing to get vaccinated or receive other care when receiving treatment for immediate problems.
"Our goal is to show other counties that this can be done in the community," Mercer said. "Our goal is to get people into primary care. While we're out under a bridge, we'll take care of wounds, bronchitis or other acute needs, but our goal is to get them into primary care, whether it's (Wheeling) Health Right, or a family practice residency, or myself and once there, we can watch them."
"We take flu shots with us, and in this population they're very amenable to getting a vaccine with us. They've gotten to know us pretty well, so we come around and offer a flu shot, they go, 'Sure!'"
Following the walk, the Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling held a brunch for the walkers, in addition to its normal operation of serving hot meals to walk-ins. Executive Director Becky Shilling-Rodocker said the kitchen served around 200 people Saturday morning.
"It's important that we provide the food for breakfast and get people in here to see this is a good facility," she said. "At the beginning of the month, we might get 175, but at the end of the month, it's close to 300. A lot of the people who Project HOPE helps out on the streets come in here."
Mercer said Wheeling-Ohio County is one of only two health departments to operate in this manner, along with San Francisco, which has earned international recognition. Last year, Mercer said, Bauer was invited to the Netherlands
"There's an international street medicine group that's worldwide," Mercer said. "They asked our group to come to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, in October to show how we do things. It's amazing what a small community working on public health can do."