Healthcare facility enhances nonprofit’s homeless services

After getting out of the hospital for a surgery to remove the cancer in his bladder, Kevin Stafford had nowhere to go. 

Stafford grew up in Macon, but has no family left, and he was living on the streets when he started urinating blood. 

The 58-year-old is unsure about his age or how long he’s been homeless because of dementia. He needs a walker to get around after he got into a car accident over a decade ago.

“I’m in no shape to be on the street anymore,” he said.

Fortunately, Stafford was the first person admitted to the new Sheridan Center’s respite care facility, which serves homeless individuals coming out of the hospital.

The Sheridan Health Center, which consists of the respite facility and a health clinic, is located next to Daybreak on Walnut Street and offers healthcare services specifically for Macon’s unhoused population. 

The respite care facility has 12 beds and is outfitted with a shower, shared community spaces, kitchen and laundry room. 

Daybreak and the new facility are operated by Depaul U.S., a national nonprofit organization combating homelessness. Daybreak offers support services, like housing assistance, meals or internet access, for people experiencing homelessness.

The organization relies upon donations and partnerships to supply and run the center, Depaul Macon Director Theresa Sullivan said.

“I have been blessed throughout my whole life with the supportive community that surrounds me,” she said. “I see Daybreak as that loving community that surrounds people.”

Steve Daugherty, the CEO of Piedmont Macon Medical Center which has partnered with Depaul on Sheridan Center, said the new facility will provide care to Macon’s most vulnerable at no charge.

He said the respite center is for people who do not require the level of care at an inpatient rehab facility but have nowhere or nobody to take care of them.

“Think of this place like your own home,” Daugherty said. “The facility provides that safe, temperature-controlled environment to take care of someone.”

People coming into Daybreak can also sign up for medical services at the nurse-run clinic housed in the same building as the respite center. The clinic offers first-aid type of care, and connects patients with services like primary care physicians, STD testing and over-the-counter medications.

Sullivan said people need “all the legs of a stool” to operate; people need to have all of their needs met in order to sustain themselves.

The center is part of a “holistic approach” to addressing homelessness, Daugherty said. While individuals are coming in after being discharged from the hospital, case managers will help with securing housing or finding a job.

“What the beautiful thing about here is, with this center, you’re combining housing with healthcare with the community outreach services and the case managers,” she said.

Depaul holds 16 “supportive housing” apartments in the Central City Apartments, a low-rent subsidized housing complex that the facility is located inside. 

The apartments are reserved for and intended for those coming out of care from the medical facility. The apartments are also supported by a caseworker, who will help tenants solve their needs and teach them how to manage their homes.

Stafford doesn’t know how long he’s going to be at the new care facility but he’s grateful to have a roof over his head. Right now he’s the only one there, and he still needs treatment for lung cancer. 

“It’s way better than being dumped out onto the street,” he said. “I could be sleeping in the park.”

Editors note: In addition to the first-aid type care, the clinic also offers primary care physician availability two times a week at no charge to Daybreak or patients it already serves.