Photo Credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez
Under the interstate in Milwaukee’s homeless encampment dubbed “tent city,” a large group of volunteers congregated on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Leading the charge, Hayat Pharmacy set up camp alongside the Muslim Community and Health Center (MCHC) and Chubbys Cheesesteaks, a locally owned eatery. Together, they are working to kickstart a charitable movement to bring health care, food and decency to Milwaukee’s homeless population.
“Poor health can contribute to being homeless, and being homeless can lead to poor health,” the U.S. National Library of Medicine says, as illustrated by the fact more than eight out of 10 homeless people have at least one chronic health condition. Milwaukee isn’t an exception.
“We’re looking to be a solution to this issue. We don’t want to just drive by tent city, so we decided to bring our team out and really find out what the needs are,” explains Baker Al-Qudsi, vice president of marketing and business development for Hayat Pharmacy. “Being in health care, we have access to doctors, medication, community resource partners and free resources within our own organization to help. A lot of the people here haven’t seen a doctor in months; transportation is clearly an issue, so we decided to reverse the issue and bring health care to them.”
Basic Medications, Health Screenings and Follow-Ups
On site, everything starts with bags, which contain deodorant, toothbrushes, skin care products, vitamins, hand sanitizer, first aid kits and other over-the-counter medications that can be difficult to acquire but are essential to maintain good health and hygiene. Everyone receives one such bag for free, and anyone who wishes can sit down and talk to the health care professionals present to go through screenings and set up a relationship with a primary care physician. Other services on site include free flu shots, medication therapy management and insurance counseling.
Hayat Pharmacy also placed drivers on standby to deliver medications as fast as possible as patients are seen by the volunteer doctors and nurses. If any follow-up is needed, the MCHC can schedule appointments with the appropriate experts and give the patients free bus passes both to and from the medical facility.
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The Muslim Community and Health Center—a nonprofit founded in 2004 that focuses on strengthening the greater Milwaukee community—provided a clinical team to reinforce the offered services. “We serve people in the area, especially those who are underserved,” MCHC office manager Fauzia Qureshi explains. “We have a clinic, behavioral health services, insurance enrollment, a lab, multiple resources, wellness workshops and more. We have a flat fee for those who are uninsured, and we take any uninsured patient from any walk of life. If anybody needs help, they can feel free to come into our clinic.”
Mara Ahmad, a registered nurse volunteering for the MCHC, got to see and serve numerous patients during the event. She explains that the rate for uninsured people is equivalent to many people’s co-pay: $25. “We also collaborate with Hayat; they have a special rate where they charge only $1 above the cost of the actual medication,” she adds. “Here, we have seen patients that have histories of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol—those are the main conditions I am seeing,” she says. “A few people also talked about a history of asthma, so if we could get them an inhaler or set them up with medication, that would be one less barrier preventing them from being productive in society.”
In addition to health care services, the inhabitants of the tent city were fed by the generous donations of lunch boxes—a bag of chips, chocolate chip cookies, a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water—from Chubbys Cheesesteaks.
Starting a Bigger Movement
“Some of the people are hesitant to approach us; maybe because this is our first time doing it, and there’s a trust that we need to build,” Hashim Zaibak, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy, says. Indeed, the start of the event was slow, and many residents of the tent city watched from afar rather than walking over to meet the volunteers. To remedy the situation, the volunteers decided to come back and turn this initiative into a semi-regular meeting rather than a one-time action. “If we start doing it on a regular basis, maybe monthly or quarterly, we will get them to trust us and come to us. Hopefully, in the future, they will come to us quicker,” Zaibak adds.
Al-Qudsi, who was an essential driving force behind the initiative, readily admits his ambition to attract more companies and resources to cement a network of support Milwaukee’s homeless population can rely on. “This is just the first of these movements; we are going to learn from our mistakes. We would like to get the attention of the health care industry. This is only one of many homeless communities, so we’re looking to take this movement to other homeless residents.”
