Health Risks for the Homeless

Most of us understand that homelessness increases risk for health problems. Living outdoors in austere conditions increases the risk of skin disorders, frostbite, and exposure to bacteria. What many don’t realize is that there are some health factors that tend to precede homelessness. For instance, some mental illnesses such as chronic schizophrenia can lead to homelessness as the severity of the illness limits a person’s ability to cope with life circumstances.

Beyond all this, treating illness is complicated for the homeless. Not only is the cost of treatment an issue, lack of transportation and communication can be hurdles as well. If a physician cannot easily contact a patient to share test results or otherwise give instruction for treatment, risk increases. Further, lack of clean, running water makes cleaning wounds more difficult.

We bring this up for two reasons. First, as we enter the Fall season, the risk of exposure slowly increases for our homeless friends. The need for socks and coats subsequently increases. More than that, our friends need prayer. Prayer for healing, prayer for protection. Your support is invaluable to us as we continue the work God has called us to with our homeless friends.

By the way, there is an excellent scholarly article on health risks for the homeless from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. It is worth reading to get an idea of the need we are facing.

Thanks for all your support!

-Hope Farm, Inc.