SAN DIEGO — Bonnie Rumford is an unhoused person who has been living at Interfaith Community Services shelter in Escondido for around four weeks. Lately, she’s been dealing with pain in her shoulder and in her feet. So when the service fair was scheduled for this week, she wanted to be sure that she could get the care she needed, free of charge.
"Oh, my goodness, there's so many things you have to do. And this took care of quite a few," she said. "Knowing that I'm on the right track to get that taken care of and everything, if that feels better."
The fair gave the unhoused of North County an opportunity to see a podiatrist, apply for jobs and pick up some clothing and food. On top of this, portable showers and volunteer barbers on site making sure folks like Donna are looking their best.
"To see someone come in, just shoveled down on where they're at, but get cleaned up, get a haircut, get an offer to come into our shelter," said Greg Anglea, the CEO of Interfaith Services. "That's a real night and day difference and it goes a real long way towards somebody overcoming homelessness."
As the homeless are at a very high risk to contract COVID-19, Anglea said that the fair and shelter is a good opportunity to get the vaccine.
"So I was talking to somebody earlier who has been on the fence about getting the vaccine," said Anglea. "He said, 'OK, I'm going to go ahead and do it.' Got his vaccine and said, 'I did it to be healthy, but I also did it so that I can get a job. Employers are requiring it.'"
These types of fairs give the unhoused and opportunity to resolve some nagging issues that set them back on the road of life. It’s not easy but there are people willing to help.
"It's just great knowing that I'm on the road to recovery in more ways than one," said Rumford.
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