For Francis DiMento, Thursday’s dedication of the St. Anthony Shrine clinic for ladies experiencing homelessness was bittersweet.
It was named for Rita DiMento, his spouse of 64 years, who died of Alzheimer’s illness 5 years in the past on the age of 92.
“This would make her overjoyed,” he stated of the Rita A DiMento Women’s Medical Clinic. “This is beyond joy.”
Mrs. DiMento was a donor and a religious Catholic. Her husband, not a lot.
“She was here at every Tuesday night Mass,” he stated. “I would be parked right outside.”
But she would have been happy that the clinic is a refuge from the hell that’s homelessness.
The 21 ladies that the clinic sees commonly have entry to a physician, a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse and a therapist. The ladies may come to take a bathe, get recent garments and snacks and take a nap, stated Mary Ann Ponti, director of outreach and group engagement.
“We want to give them a calm space where they can relax,” Ponti stated.
But there are additionally hints that it’s no peculiar clinic. In the lounge there’s a record of road predators ladies can add to as a warning to different homeless ladies.
The rest room has a movement detector that alerts employees if the lady inside hasn’t moved for 2 minutes.
“The opioid epidemic is on fire,” Ponti stated. “And the women are taking the brunt of it,” overdosing on fentanyl, an artificial opioid many occasions stronger than heroin.
For ladies whose solely supply of earnings is the cash they make from “survival sex,” a flyer is hooked up to the wall with some suggestions: “Wear shoes you can run in,” “wear clothing that doesn’t have to be removed for sex” and “avoid necklaces,” which have been used to strangle ladies.
“Thank you,” Gov. Charlie Baker stated to the employees and the friars that loaned them house for the clinic. “This will make an enormous difference to a lot of people.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”