Westlake Patch: Joseph’s Home Gets Grants From Community West Foundation
Joseph’s Home Board Member Debbie Rovito teaching an infectious disease prevention class to residents in January 2020.
CLEVELAND — The Community West Foundation, based in Westlake, has awarded a $6,000 grant to Joseph’s Home, a facility which cares for medically-vulnerable homeless men in Northeast Ohio.
“We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with Community West Foundation,” said Beth Graham, executive director of Joseph’s Home. “The foundation’s support has been critical to our efforts to assist some of our community’s most vulnerable regain their health and housing stability.”
Since 2007, Community West has provided more than $334,000 to bolster Joseph’s Home.
According to their website, Joseph’s Home is an 11-bed facility, with private rooms and ongoing medical supervision and management. Men at the facility have home-cooked meals and receive intensive case management, including permanent housing plans, benefits review, transportation to any housing or medical appointments and supportive programming to identify community resources.
Since the new coronavirus outbreak began in Ohio, Joseph’s Home has implemented myriad policies to protect staff and guests, including:
- Suspending volunteer activities
- Suspending visitation
- Screening all persons for symptoms daily
- Suspending group gatherings
- Practicing physical distancing
- Cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces and mandating frequent hand washing
- Keeping sick staff home
- Using private rooms to isolate guests who begin to feel ill
- Using protective equipment, if needed
“Joseph’s Home disrupts the tragic cycle of shelters, emergency rooms and the streets for our community’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Graham. “At Joseph’s Home, we offer the care people need for their acute conditions, connecting them to appropriate ongoing healthcare and working with our housing partners to obtain a stable, permanent home.”
Leadership at Joseph’s Home has put out an urgent request for hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and operating funds. Anyone who would like to donate items such as hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes should contact Development Director Madeline Wallace at [email protected].
Monetary donations can be made on the group’s website.
Written by: Chris Mosby
Read more about the Community West Foundation at www.communitywestfoundation.org.
