Immediate Help

I spent 3 hours volunteering in the pharmacy this afternoon. The pharmacy was slow today, and I went about the usual business of filling prescription orders and watched as our pharmacist counseled our patients on the various medications. Work at the pharmacy today was nothing out of the ordinary.

However, it was the drive home from the pharmacy that impacted me greatly. As I was driving my usual route home on Fannin, towards my apartment near the museum district, I saw an ambulance vehicle parked in the opposite direction of traffic. Cars began to veer to the side lanes, in order to pass the ambulance. As I drove past the scene, I saw two paramedics, attending to a homeless person laying on the side of the street, right beside a bush. The person looked lifeless, and witnessing this caused me to become extremely sad.

Winter is quickly approaching, as is evident by the extremely cool/cold temperatures during the nighttime. It always bothers me to think that there are still countless of homeless people in our city, who have to bear the cold every night, with no shelter to go to. I couldn't help but to think this particular person's condition may have been caused by the cold, and perhaps the lack of a decent diet.

I feel that these individuals are the ones that need the most immediate help in our community. Although I haven't been able to do much for the homeless, it is in my plans for the very near future to find a way to provide healthcare for this population, even if it is just working at a homeless shelter's clinic a couple hours of the week.

In the meantime, my volunteer job at the San Jose Clinic has enabled me to provide to another population of people, who are also in immediate need of medical help, but who all lack access to basic healthcare. It is such a rewarding experience to know that I have helped to change some of these patients lives, for the better!