Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Secular Franciscans help Mercy Primary Care serve homeless
Secular Franciscans help Mercy Primary Care serve homeless
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 18, 2008
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Delivering towels and washcloths to Mercy Primary Care at Samaritan Center are (from left) Secular Franciscan Order members Ona Harris, Dr. Caroline Florescu and Pat Meldrum, and receiving them are Dr. Margaret Meyers and Aiisya Williamson of Mercy Primary Care. |
Detroit — Besides providing medical attention, the Mercy Primary Care Center on Detroit's lower east side also helps area homeless persons keep clean and healthy through its SPA – Special Personal Assistance — program.
And members of the St. Bonaventure fraternity of Secular Franciscans helped support this program that offers homeless persons the opportunity for a warm shower and clean clothes — by delivering 200 towels and washcloths to the center April 5.
Of the approximately 4,000 men and women who avail themselves of the program each year, almost all are also clients of the nearby Capuchin Soup Kitchen, said Aiisya Williamson, the center's executive director.
"We don't really have a budget for this program, and we wouldn't be able to offer it without donations of towels like this, because we go through about 600 towels a year.
Ona Harris, SFO, vice minister of the fraternity, said the project grew out of a proposal at a regional conference of the Secular Franciscan Order last year.
"We wanted to share with those in the same community where we work and pray, as a way to live the Gospel through the charism of St. Francis of Assisi," said Harris, who is also parish office manager at St. Peter Claver Parish in Detroit. For more information about Mercy Primary Care call (313) 579-4000 or visit www.mercyprimarycare.org.
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