Teresa, a survivor of domestic violence and medical hardship, is frank when she talks about her struggles.
“The man that I married, he hit me, and I had kids with him, and I believed he loved me, and I still believe that he did love me, but he was not capable of loving in a manner that was healthy,” Teresa says. “The last straw was when he punched my daughter, who was 15 at the time, and she said, ‘if you can’t leave him for yourself mom, please leave him for us.’” Teresa did leave her abuser but struggled to find housing.
“I stayed in shelters for a while. You have to sleep with all your belongings under your head and there’s headlice and bed bugs and all the other stuff that goes along with it.” After Teresa became a patient at Unity Care NW, her provider, Muriel Handschy ARNP, told her she needed surgery for HPV.
“Normally when a patient has surgery, they stay in the hospital until they’re stable and then discharged to home or an extended stay care facility,” says Muriel. “If someone is experiencing homelessness, they may end up being discharged to the street before they are fully recovered if there isn’t space for them in one of the local facilities.”
Teresa was forced to find an alternative place to recuperate.
“I went down to maritime park where they had containers.” Teresa found large plastic bins that had been used for transporting fish and put two together to create a makeshift shelter. For Muriel, this outcome was heartbreaking.
“It’s important to have access to hygiene facilities; to a bathroom, to a sink, to soap and water to have the best recovery from whatever your surgery is. In an instance like Teresa’s, she found a dry place to stay but had no bathroom facilities to use during her surgery recovery process.”
“When you’re homeless, you’re in survival mode,” Teresa insists. “So, I don’t even know if I thought about infection.”
Having a safe place to recover, to take a shower, and do her laundry would have been lifechanging for Teresa. That’s why Unity Care NW is partnering with PeaceHealth, Opportunity Council, and Whatcom County to create The Way Station. In one location, unhoused individuals can access health and hygiene services as well as medical respite beds when they need them.
Today, Teresa is healthy, has a home, and has recently been promoted at her job. We are proud to be able to provide a health care home for Teresa and it’s stories like hers that inspire us to go further to ensure health and hygiene services are accessible to everyone.