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Catholic Charities

When homeless hospital patients are discharged, they face a number of different issues. Difficult self-care requirements combined with the chaos of shelters, stress and violence on the streets, and a lack of nutrition and basic facilities can result in repeated visits to the emergency room. In these situations, clients simply don’t have the basic necessities to recover. How do you rest if you don’t have a bed? How do you use a prescribed nebulizer without an electrical outlet? These are the simple barriers that keep people from staying healthy, ultimately leading them back to the emergency room.

In order to address these needs, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis started a Transitional Recuperative Care (TRC) program for adults suffering from illness or injury. Clients receive a simple, furnished room at Catholic Charities’ Exodus Residence in Minneapolis. They have access to simplicities like laundry rooms, TV, exercise equipment, and meals are served three times daily. Catholic Charities also employs an on-site nursing team to dispense medication and manage individual cases.

In 2011, the Medica Foundation awarded Catholic Charities a $30,000 grant to support the TRC program. Since then, the program has seen resounding success and expanded its outreach. In the years to come, the TRC program will expand to the new Dorothy Day Center — now under construction in St. Paul. The TRC program has exceeded expectations, and helped support a countless many on their road to recovery. By taking things case-by-case, they truly make a difference.

Read about one man's journey through the TRC program