What We Do
Pope Francis Center staff and volunteers are dedicated to creating a space in which our guests can feel at home. We meet each individual’s physical needs with love and dignity in an atmosphere of hope and healing. Here’s how we enhance our guests’ health and well-being.
How You Can Help
Volunteer
Operation of the Day Center is reliant upon the support of our dedicated volunteers. They help with meal prep and service, coordinating laundry and showers for our guests, providing items of basic need, and any number of special projects. If you are ready to be a part of our volunteer team, sharing your light and making a difference in the lives of our guests, please join us.
What We Do:
Nutrition
Pope Francis Center guests are greeted with a hot breakfast, followed mid-morning by a hearty meal lovingly prepared on-site by our kitchen staff and a dedicated band of volunteers. Our culinary team creates meals with fresh, nutrient-packed ingredients to make the most of what may be the only source of food for our guests.
Mealtime also creates a sense of community for our guests and an opportunity for fellowship with one another, our staff, and our volunteers. Communal dining is not only vital to our guests’ emotional well-being, it also provides very real health benefits. Our nutritional menu helps to:
- Reduce the risk of cancer
- Manage diabetic conditions – especially type 2 diabetes
- Prevent hypertension, heart disease, and stroke
- Strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis
- Boost mood to alleviate depression and fatigue
- Improve memory and battle dementia
What We Do:
Hygiene
Pope Francis Center provides our guests with access to three private shower facilities and sink/shave stations in a clean and welcoming environment. We also distribute toiletries, clean socks, and underwear, and other health and grooming items as needed.
Access to good personal and oral hygiene through the Center’s facilities not only boosts our guests’ spirits, but also helps ward off a variety of health concerns such as stomach viruses, body lice, gastroenteritis, and skin infections. Regular teeth brushing keeps conditions like coronary artery disease, dementia, diabetes, pneumonia, and pregnancy and birth complications in check.
Volunteers continuously operate our industrial washers and dryers during service hours, ensuring guests have fresh, dry clothing. In addition to boosting self-esteem, enhancing appearance, and improving hygiene, clean clothes protect our guests from the threat of frostbite from wearing wet socks, gloves, and other garments in frigid winter temperatures.
What We Do:
Housing Assistance
Pope Francis Center maintains relationships with community partners that offer permanent supportive housing, employment opportunities, and furniture assistance to help those guests who are ready to transition into a more independent lifestyle. Additionally, recovery assistance and treatment programs are made available to guests of the Pope Francis Center through collaborative efforts with partner agencies.
Mail, phone, and internet services are also available at the Day Center.
What We Do:
Clinics
Pope Francis Center proudly partners with a host of dedicated organizations and businesses across the community to continually deliver the support and counsel that enhances our guests’ health and well-being. Through our dedicated space within the Center, professionals and students support our guests each day via a rotating schedule of clinics that includes:
Medical Clinic
Our partners from Covenant Community Care, Street Medicine Detroit, Corewell Health, and University of Detroit Mercy provide preventative care and regular medical intervention for mental health concerns, chronic conditions, and urgent illnesses and injuries.
Dental Clinic
Proper dental care is important for maintaining overall health, while also impacting your ability to speak, eat, and smile with confidence. Covenant Community Care dentists and hygienists provide basic check-ups, oral screenings, and emergency dental care for our guests.
Podiatric Clinic
Foot health offers insight into overall health. University of Detroit Mercy nurses regularly monitor our guests for indications of frostbite in an effort to avoid the need for amputation.
Behavioral Health Peer Support Clinic
The stresses of homelessness can be overwhelming. ECHO Detroit provides peer support to our guests, recognizing the struggles of drug and alcohol use, depression, housing insecurity, and health concerns, working to address problems before they become even more severe.
Health Insurance Clinic
Navigating private and federally funded health insurance can be challenging. Through a partnership with Molina Healthcare, guests are provided with the information they need to make the best healthcare insurance decisions for themselves.
Secretary of State Mobile Clinic
Regular visits from the Secretary of State Mobile Unit allow guests to obtain personal documents necessary in the process of obtaining permanent supportive housing and stable employment.
