National Health Foundation’s Recuperative Care facility in Ventura County hit the ground running. Since the July 10, 2017 grand opening of this new we facility, we have been able to provide respite care services to more than 50 individuals. Of course, we could not have served the community without the help of the many local, long-established organizations that have been instrumental in providing social services and linkages to individuals experiencing homelessness for many years.
National Health Foundation (NHF) believes that everyone deserves to be healthy and that a lack of housing is one of the barriers to health. NHF works within communities to remove barriers to health by empowering and connecting individuals to one another and to groups and resources that, together, create lasting and sustainable healthy changes. In the case of our Ventura County Pathway Recuperative Care center, we partnered with Community Intervention Court, Pathways to Home, Ventura County Whole Persons Care Project, and Ventura Continuum of Care affording us the ability to provide hospitals with a safe discharge option and a continuum of care for their patients experiencing homelessness.
One of the clients we served, Lillian, had been without a home since early April. The 72-year-old found herself displaced after the death of her roommate and tried to manage her chronic illnesses while living in her car. In August, Lillian transported herself to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard (her second visit in less than 2 months) for chest pain. Lillian was referred to Pathway Recuperative Care site in Ventura, which shares a location with the Salvation Army Transitional Living Center. Staff assisted Lillian with finding housing, attending her scheduled doctor’s appointments, and obtaining services in the community. Lillian’s original length of stay was seven days but was given an extension for ten additional days. Fortunately, Lillian was accepted to the Salvation Army Transitional Living Center which was an effortless transition for her. She hopes to live independently in the future and increase her circle of friends. Lillian stated that she is grateful for the services from Pathway Recuperative Care, Ventura and remains social with the Ventura staff daily.
We at NHF are grateful to the partners who have helped to make Lillian’s story one of healthy success and we look forward to continuing to serve the Ventura community.