Where Do They Go?
Greenville, located in the eastern part of North Carolina, is the home of the East Carolina University Pirates. In 2007, the population of Pitt County was estimated to be 76,058. With the increase of East Carolina University’s student acceptance rate, Greenville grows every year by the thousands. Greenville is the fastest growing city within Pitt County and is in constant change and development. Taking pride in the rapid growth of Greenville, Pitt County has extruded extra efforts in keeping the streets clean of homeless and the mentally ill.
There is no group in society that is more elusive or difficult to help than the nation’s homeless. They are often loners who avoid public contact and shun assistance from others. Most are in dire need of food, shelter, health care and other basic necessities. One of the major issues of assisting the homeless is government funding and structured recovery programs.
Maintaining a beautiful and developed city is imperative to the economic stability of Pitt County as a whole. But, Greenville has a large number of improvised families and substance abusers.
For a city that will give government funding to the pavement of the downtown 4th street parking lot, it has fallen short of funds to contribute to the homeless shelter and their redeveloping programs. The shelter is forced to run on business donations, grants, and community contributions. Every program that is run by the homeless shelter is volunteer based.
The shelter works closely with their residents in order to provide a safe and constructive environment that will pave the way to a healthier life style. The Greenville Community Homeless Shelter aims to “assist individual adult men and women ages 18 and older, and families, in setting and meeting lifestyle management goals that will allow them to become more self-reliant.” (Greenville Community Shelter, Inc.)
One of the programs that aims toward developmental progress is the Alcohol Anonymous course. This course is based on the 12 step program to sobriety.
Often Alcoholism is overlooked as an addiction. This off sighting is one of most common addictions found within the homeless community. In order to prevent the abuse of alcohol, the shelter has its residents sign a contract agreeing to sobriety upon their entrance. But, for extra security, the residents are asked to submit to a breathalyzer test before entering for the night.
Not only does the shelter have programs for alcohol abusers, they also offer free HIV testing to all of their residents. If positive for the virus the resident is placed on a treatment plan in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
However, one might wonder how the shelter can afford treatment for their residents. The Shelter has a hidden jewel within its facility that is often overlooked. They have a medical clinic that is connected to East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. It is a volunteer based program that allows the students to come in with the assistance of a physician to treat the patients. The clinic is volunteer based so it is often hard to maintain consistency. Nonetheless, the clinic still provides health care to those in need. Providing health care and recovery programs to the recovering addicts and the mentally ill will continuously present an issue to the shelter. Many of their residents have a history with substance abuse. So, maintaining a safe place where they are able to retain the proper treatment is a daily challenge.
Lending the hand that will lift up hundreds, the shelter is often the last resort. Working with their resources the shelter provides many with a new vision of life. Greenville might not see the diamond in the rough, but one day it will shine.
Filed under: Community Partners, Super Primary Tuesday