#rest-centres

#rest-centres

"It's been in continuous disrepair and derelict circumstances. There were reported firearms, individuals walking out onto the street with assault rifles, drug paraphernalia that you can even find today, a lot of drug use."

Most people leave doctor visits with prescriptions, but still feel unsure—instructions make sense, but no one asks about their life. In contrast, when a provider knows your name, remembers your story, and explains care in a way that fits you, the experience feels different—and that difference matters.

The facility, located at 2862 Fulton St., is designed to provide immediate stabilization, therapeutic support, and discharge planning to connect patients with longer-term services.

Campaigner Aysha Hawcutt stated that residents were 'not anti-homes', but believed the Adlington plan was 'the wrong proposal in the wrong place'. She expressed pride in the community's resilience against the development threats.

"Hello, how are you doing? Good to see you," says Honor Cousens, as she pushes a trolley loaded with cold drinks, sweets, biscuits, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. The volunteer at the Royal London Hospital is a familiar face on the wards, and has been supporting staff and patients for many years. She is part of the Friends of the Royal London Hospital, a charity that has been running at the Whitechapel site since 1979.

Rebuilding Together Silicon Valley is holding a March 12 training for its Volunteer Ambassador Program. Volunteers raise awareness, share resources and connect residents with programs that support safe and healthy living in Santa Clara County. Volunteer ambassadors are also called upon to build relationships in their communities, represent Rebuilding Together in a positive, welcoming way and support outreach by attending events and sharing resources . The virtual training is set for 5:30 p.m. To register and receive the meeting link, visit https://bit.ly/45Yrg9S.

A community defibrillator fundraiser has begun to remember a "very friendly and therapeutic" cat named Defib which moved into an ambulance station in east London 18 years ago. Defib lived at Walthamstow Ambulance Station, after being rescued by paramedics as a kitten in 2008 and "adored by them ever since". In 2024, the cat was faced with eviction from his home but this was overturned after more than 62,000 people signed an online petition.

We've used the model successfully locally here, but I think it's a model we can advocate and push for at a larger scale. In 2017, the nonprofit saw more people in Santa Clara County falling into homelessness. It started a homelessness prevention program to provide rental assistance, case management and supportive services to hundreds of families on the brink of eviction, and received help from private funders to make the work possible.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Academy winter training session begins Feb. 24. This hands-on program teaches community members essential disaster preparedness skills, including fire safety, first aid, search and rescue and emergency response tactics. The CERT Academy includes three in-person evening sessions, one online evening session and one final in-person daytime skills exercise. All in-person sessions will be held at the Campbell Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Ave. To register, visit https://bit.ly/4tsjWNX

Akido Labs, a Los Angeles-based health care technology company that runs clinics and street medicine teams in California, plans to start using its AI model on homeless and housing insecure patients in the Bay Area next month. The program generates questions for outreach workers to ask patients and then suggests diagnoses, medical tests and even medication, which a human doctor then signs off on remotely.

Isaac Tumuramye has called the Willowdale Welcome Centre home since he came to Toronto from Uganda two years ago. But the shelter, which serves refugees experiencing homelessness in Toronto, is closing at the end of May. Tumuramye says he's scared about what the future holds and others staying at the shelter feel the same. "We're not ready yet, we're still trying to make life happen," he said.

The question of whether mental health retreats allow social media access does not have a universal answer. Different facilities approach digital connectivity in varying ways, reflecting their treatment philosophies and therapeutic goals. Most mental health retreats limit or completely restrict social media use during the initial phases of treatment, though specific policies can range from total digital detox to supervised access at designated times.