Richard Brucker's experience

A "little" note from a fellow medical student, Richard Brucker, who helped me last thursday with interviews :)


Talking With the Homeless

New Orleans is unique city with a unique homeless problem. After Katrina, many paying tenants suddenly entered the world of homelessness. FEMA supposedly came to the rescue; however it became apparent to me on the cold Thursday afternoon quite how hard Hurricane Katrina struck. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, George and Tyrone were paying tenants in New Orleans. After the hurricane FEMA paid the landlords who lost their homes for their destroyed property and paid the tenants for their lost clothing. With many homes destroyed and housing less available, rent increased and became unaffordable. Unfortunately the lack of affordable housing meant that people suddenly entered the world of homelessness.



This past Thursday I went to "Tent City," a park across from city hall where many homeless people live. A few of my classmates and I went to the park to talk to these homeless men and women and find their stories. I was most interested in how they became homeless and what we, as a coalition of medical students, could do to help them. Rather than guess what is needed by these men and women, we would find out what THEY want. I was not surprised that every person I spoke to had the same 3 needs: Housing, Medical Care, and Education.



Firstly, I was surprised to find that three of the four men I spoke to worked. The one who didn't suffered five heart attacks and four strokes. He receives a monthly disability stipend from the government. Prior to Katrina this stipend was enough for him to pay for housing. Post Katrina his stipend and these men's forty plus hour work weeks is not enough to pay for housing. Obviously, they want more affordable housing and more shelters. One idea that they had was to turn the abandoned hotel across from "tent city" into a shelter. It could hold thousands of people and provide bathing for many!



As a Tulane Medical Student I really learned a lot that cold Thursday afternoon. The first man I spoke, Jesse, told me that one of the biggest things the homeless needed was more medical and dental clinics. Tyrone had five heart attacks and four strokes, he needs to be seen regularly in order to ensure that he will live. George is a Vietnam veteran and when he went to the VA of New Orleans, they told him they can't see him until he retires in a year. He was told to check out Bridge House, a Drug and Alcoholic treatment center, with a clinic once a week. George did not understand how there are many resources for drug addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill, yet nothing for the men and women who can't afford healthcare. Another man named George received a prescription for antibiotics from the ER. He told me that it was $54 and he just couldn't afford it. Suddenly it dawned on me that availability of resources is worthless without the knowledge that they are even available.



Although there is a need for more clinics, as a medical student I know that the resources are available. I personally volunteer at a few of the free clinics in town, some of which these men and women did not even know exist. In regards to the prescriptions, until I started medical school I never knew that Wal-Mart had a $4 prescription program. ANYONE, with or without insurance, could get a month supply of over 300 generic drugs for only $4. I told these men that there were more resources available. I told them about the Wal-Mart prescription plan. When I told them that I was going to make up a list of all the available free medical and clinics in the city, complete with their services, their hours, and their addresses George began to cry. He told me that people look away whenever they walk by and that he feels alive knowing that there are people here who really do care.



Lastly, I mentioned that education was also on their list of priorities. Jesse Weathers was a man who lived all over the United States. At one point he lived on Skid Row in Los Angeles. He said that the best thing LA has to offer for the homeless is education. There are education centers for the homeless. These centers provide basic education to help people get their GED and provide job training. He feels that New Orleans would benefit greatly from an Education Center for the Homeless. This education center would be most beneficial, according to Jesse, if it provides Blue-Collar Job Training. This would allow people the homeless to get higher paying, better jobs, which would ultimately help put the homeless in homes. Further, he suggested that the education center provide GED training to these men and women. When I asked if he felt that this would help the homeless situation, he responded, "The homeless situation will always be, but New Orleans needs to have a better avenue … an education training center would be a plus. Not just a few people, but many, would utilize this.


After my few hours talking with the homeless I learned that the problem is extremely complex. In order to best provide for these men and women, we need to cater to their needs. Unfortunately Katrina has made the housing situation rather unfortunate. I do, however, see some things that we as Tulane students can do to help these men and women. Firstly, I created this list for the free clinics in town. I added a note about the Wal-Mart formulary. We could possibly have a mobile clinic travel to "Tent City" and could provide a health education presentation to the homeless. In regards to education, I believe that an education training center is necessary. However, I believe that we can start in small steps. Jesse seemed rather receptive to a once-a-week tutoring session in the New Orleans public library. We could work with people on what they need help with. If people need to learn to read, we can teach them. If people need to study for their GED we can tutor them. The homeless situation in New Orleans is dismal. Even if we can not completely fix it, we can definitely do something to make it better!