Dear CFH Family
A message to all of our friends.
Dear CFH Family,
2020 has been a year we will never forget. I hope that you and your family and friends are safe and healthy. I also want to extend my thanks to you for your belief in the work that Care For the Homeless has been doing for 35 years, focusing exclusively on providing the highest-quality health care, shelter and social services for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and advocating for policies to end homelessness.
If it is possible for you this year, I respectfully ask for your renewed support to help us continue this critical work with a gift to the CFH COVID-19 Impact Fund. Earlier this year, we successfully raised over $52,000 for the fund, to help us maintain access to health care for our vulnerable clients and to deliver it safely. As COVID continues to surge, we are hoping to complete our goal of $100,000 by December 31.
Will you consider making a gift to the Impact Fund today?
CFH decided early in the pandemic to remain open and available to our patients and shelter residents. The folks we serve live with multiple chronic medical and psychiatric conditions and are particularly vulnerable to respiratory illnesses like COVID-19. We had to invest in a massive amount of personal protective equipment to protect our staff and patients. Also investing in technology to stay in touch with patients through telemedicine; we must continue to purchase laptops and other technology needed in the new virtual health environment. This has put a significant strain on our financial resources, but we have kept going. And the fight is far from over. This is why your support is vital now.
During this time, our staff has been nothing less than heroic, continuing to serve clients in health centers and shelters throughout the pandemic, placing their responsibilities ahead of their own safety. You can read several examples of their work in our โEssential Voices, Essential Workersโ series, here on our website.
It is their heroic level of care and dedication that inspires me. I hope it inspires you also to make a gift to the Impact Fund to ensure all our staff can continue their life-saving and life-affirming work each day.
I would be remiss in not mentioning one of the most shocking aspects of COVID-19 which is how it has exposed the disparities in access to health care for people of color and low-income people. In NYC, African-American residents of NYC have had a death rate from COVID infection that is twice that of white people.*
CFH has been working to reduce the impact of such disparities for 35 years and it is tragic that it took a deadly pandemic to draw national attention to this problem. We canโt return to normal after the pandemic.
We need to do better.
Access to high-quality health care ends homelessness for those we serve. Hereโs an example of this at work:
Jose G. is Bronx born-and-raised. He was employed his entire life. Following retirement, he ran into a difficult period of health setbacks and life events that left him without a home. Jose found his way to CFHโs health center at Part of The Solution in the Bronx. There, our multi-disciplinary team helped him take control of his diabetes and other health challenges.
Healthy again, Jose moved into his own apartment in July and enjoys reaching out to others in his community, encouraging them to take charge of their health, as he did.
In addition to Joseโs success, there is more good news! The cityโs lock-down in March prevented the opening of our first community-based health center on Junius St. in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
It finally opened safely in July.
It is serving a neighborhood with some of the cityโs worst health indicators and sits in the midst of shelters and housing for homeless women and their children. Now more homeless New Yorkers will have access to life-saving health care that can end their homelessness.
Our staff and patients like Jose are my heroes. But thereโs another hero involved: it is you.
With your support, we can not only sustain this work but we will continue to expand our impact by reaching into more neighborhoods in 2021 and beyond. Stay tuned for more news in the future!
Please help us tackle this unacceptable disparity head-on with the quality health care that our cityโs most vulnerable residents deserve. I look forward to hearing from you and to extending my heartfelt thanks for saying again that you too Care For the Homeless.
Sincerely,
George Nashak
President and Chief Executive Officer
PS: a recurring gift (monthly or quarterly) will provide a source of sustained support for today and our exciting future plansโplease go to our donation page on our website to choose this option.
*NYC Dept of Health, October, 2020
