Give the Gift of Housing This Holiday Season
Asher and Arya helping out at the community meal in Charles Town, WV.
When we talked about opening a business together, we knew that giving back to our local community would be part of the mission of Sand and Pine Co. We grew up in Charles Town, graduated from Jefferson and Washington High Schools in Jefferson County, WV, and after college, came back to lay down roots at home. Chloe and Drew settled in Martinsburg, and I started working as a local Family Medicine physician at Harpers Ferry Family Medicine in Harpers Ferry, WV.
I have close ties with Jefferson County Community Ministries (JCCM), a charitable organization in downtown Charles Town, WV, that serves local residents’ experiencing hardship. One of their main objectives is to help prevent homelessness in the community and beyond. At JCCM, I provide care for underserved patients once per week and regularly assist case management in obtaining housing for those with medical conditions. Prior to COVID, I also taught cooking classes at JCCM to help clients learn how to cook and design healthy meals out of ingredients found in the food pantry. It was there that I saw the devastation that homelessness can wreak on individual’s overall health. I thought, how can they worry about eating healthy when they are worrying about where they will sleep tonight? So, the cooking classes morphed into a team of fellow medical faculty, resident physicians, medical students, and local chefs working together to cook healthy community meals for those experiencing homelessness and those in need. Since that time, I have worked to support those experiencing homelessness and to support organizations that assist people to obtain housing, medical insurance, prescription medications, and jobs. JCCM is one of those organizations and is filled with caring people doing their best to help those around them. JCCM also works very closely with the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, another organization that works tirelessly to house those that are unhoused.
Asher and Arya helping to make roasted herbed cauliflower and potatoes for the community meal.
People experience homelessness for many reasons, many of them unavoidable. Watch one episode of Maid on Netflix, and you get just a glimpse of the terrible things that happen to good people that can lead to homelessness. All of the patients I see that are experiencing homelessness have a story to tell. Many of them have gone through substantial trauma and have hit road blocks in their life and set backs. It is humbling to listen to what they go through on a daily basis.
So what can we do? We can offer understanding, kindness, and a helping hand, including housing. Persons experiencing homelessness are at greater risk of death, infectious diseases, and unstable chronic illnesses. Housing helps to stabilize chronic medical conditions, improve healing during acute illness, and can reduce recurrent ER visits. So in a way, housing is the best medicine we can offer. I love the slogan by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council – “Housing is Health Care.” Yes, yes, yes!
In the spirit of giving this holiday season, Sand and Pine Co. donated to JCCM to continue the wonderful work that they do in helping people get back on their feet. We would ask that you do the same – find an organization in your hometown that works to house those that are unhoused.
If you would like to donate to JCCM visit:
If you would like to donate to the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness visit:
https://wvceh.org/
Happy Holidays!