There is a place down by the MARTA tracks between the MLK and Georgia State stations you don’t want to go. The people who live there call it “the dungeon,” and only the most desperate of Atlanta’s homeless go there. This is where Street Medicine program director Joy Fernandez De Nayan first found Doug. Wheelchair-bound…
Mavis was 65 years old when she received a call; her daughter (and boyfriend) had been arrested. Could Mavis come and take custody of her three grandchildren? Otherwise, they would be separated and placed into Floyd County foster care. Mavis hadn’t seen her grandchildren since they were babies. Now they were all in elementary school…
James Bentley never thought he would end up needing Recuperative Care for men at Gateway Center. In the spring 2019, he was engaged to be married, worked at Home Depot, and was able to see his grandkids at least once a week. Then he had a stroke. “When I had my stroke, I was admitted…
Five years ago, Hortensia Peters didn’t imagine not being able to work again, and relying on her 30-year-old daughter to help provide for her. After a horrific fall in 2016, Hortensia was left with three lost teeth, a cracked skull, cracked jaw, hurt back and without a joint in her elbow. But with her contagious…
“I enjoy working with kids; I enjoy working with older people; and everybody in between. I just like working with people. And when they succeed, I feel like I’ve succeeded too.” – Mercy Care optometrist James Stewart, D.O. A frog, a hug, a dollar store run; little gestures portray a big heart. The hearty laugh…
“Legwork is legwork,” says Torez Askew, a patient at Mercy Care and a recent hire through Shelters to Shutters. Atlanta’s continuum of care offers a major safety net for individuals who find themselves situationally homeless or otherwise needing of aid, but Torez will tell anyone, you must put in the work to fully reap the…
Mercy Care’s Recuperative Care programs for men and women provide a safe, healing place for those experiencing homelessness to stay after discharge from hospitals. For the compromised patients currently sheltering in City of Refuge and Gateway Center dorms, COVID-19 poses a very real threat. As one male resident said to the group: “If anyone catches…
As the world continues to watch healthcare workers give their all in the fight against COVID-19, many hearts in Atlanta have been inspired to join the battle. Over the last few weeks, Mercy Care has seen an outpouring of support from volunteers and donors who wish to make a difference during this unprecedented time. On…
One of the first high-risk populations to be identified in the current COVID-19 outbreak was the elderly, particularly those at senior care centers. Mercy Care Rome offers daytime health services to seniors with memory issues and other chronic conditions that need monitoring, while also acting as a social and resource center for these patients and…
While many of us feel an information overload from the media, social networks, and government with COVID-19 updates, a section of our population remains in the dark. For Atlantans experiencing unsheltered homelessness, many do not have internet access and lack crucial resources and sometimes basic awareness of the current pandemic. And for those who are…
