Manna Homeless Society is working towards providing immediate access to health care for impoverished individuals in the Parksville Qualicum Beach region, with a mobile health unit.
Manna has been working in the Parksville Qualicum Beach region for 14 years, providing homeless people and those in need with emergency food items, clothing and at times blankets and tents. They are currently providing access to their community care mobile on Wednesdays out of the Salvation Army parking lot in Parksville.
“For the past year-and-a-half we’ve put on the street a renovated RV, and with the help of nurse practitioners we’ve been able to offer immediate health access to people who’ve been on the street, or people who are marginalized, or people who feel abandoned,” Jerrold Paetkau, operations manger for Manna Homeless Society, told Qualicum Beach council at a committee of the whole meeting on May 1. “Because of that, in the last five months we’ve been able to see eight people get into treatment, where the normal response in a similar period is normally about one.”
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Manna’s initiative now is to raise funds for a more professional, medically equipped mobile care facility to reach a broader client base.
“The mobile home is not a purpose-built machine like a mobile health clinic would be, where there’s an examination room and all the necessary equipment that a doctor could access,” Paetkau said.
Paetkau added he’s already spoken with a few doctors and nurse practitioners in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area who are “very excited” about the possibility of a mobile health unit. He has also spoken with Island Health, which he hopes will provide some personnel and administrative assistance.
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“One nurse practitioner now has said that she would dedicate a day with this new facility and wants to work in the Errington area where there are many families who do not have immediate access to medical attention,” Paetkau said. “The Errington school for instance sees 60 kids everyday receive breakfast and many of those kids and families do not have access to medical attention.”
He added they also plan to bring the mobile health unit to St. Stephen’s Church where “over 100 high school kids” go each week for food.
“We are looking for funds that would help us purchase this facility and then once we’re able to get it off the ground and running we’re hoping that this will be something to help transform our community,” Paetkau said.
The second-hand mobile health unit that Manna hopes to purchase is currently being used in Phoenix, Ariz., by a non-profit organization that provides space for homeless people to see doctors. The unit cost is approximately $110,000 U.S. and so Manna is seeking to raise $150,000 Canadian.
“We have $50,000 raised and we’re continuing to press ahead,” Paetkau said.