COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A new partnership in the Short North is changing the lives of some of the city's homeless population.
The Short North Alliance is teaming up with Southeast Healthcare‘s Rapid Response Emergency Addiction and Crisis Team (REACT) and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to connect these people with critical services.
Every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., they open the Anthem Welcome Center to anyone who needs a little help.
The program started this summer to offer things like healthcare services, hygiene services, and addiction services to homeless people in the Short North, but now they’ve helped more than 250 people and really turned some lives around.
“They show you love, understanding, they give you a hug if you need one. That means a lot,” Don Brown, who has been living in homeless shelters for years, said.
Brown and another man experiencing homelessness, Ben Williams, said it wasn’t until they met Tamra Speakman that their lives changed.
“Helps us a lot, Tammy,” Williams said. “Everybody helps everybody in here.”
Speakman is an engagement specialist and certified recovery supporter who brought Williams and Brown to Anthem’s Welcome Center on High Street.
“They can get whatever they would like,” Speakman said. “It's free, nothing. We don't charge them anything.”
Speakman said people can come get snacks, hygiene products, a place to shower, healthcare services, see an addiction specialist and even get a haircut. She said she personally went out into the Short North to find people in need of some help.
“We meet them where they are, so that's the best thing for them is that we meet them where they are and we, you know, we don't follow them around, but we make sure that they know what's going on,” Speakman said.
She always follows through to make sure the people she is helping make the right appointments and show up to those appointments. She said word of mouth is really starting to spread and they are now helping an average of 15 people each week.
“We know that through repeat engagement, through deep relationship building and through kindness, we can make a difference in people's lives,” Short North Alliance Executive Director Betsy Pandora said.
For people like Williams and Brown, the center has made a difference. Speakman and others at the center have helped these men find housing which they moved into last week.
“It's more than great,” Brown said. “Southeast and Tammy have shown us the way and we're going and housing and it's like, ‘Wow, thank you, God.’”
Pandora said there are also ways the community can help support these people. She said on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Anthem Center will collect items like blankets, gently used clothing, toiletries and other items to help support folks facing challenges this winter. The collections are held at the Anthem Center at 1006 North High Street on Tuesday and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Anthem will also be participating in the Short North Arts District holiday trail, and if you make a purchase in the Short North throughout the holiday season and donate to Anthem, you will get a sticker on your trail card. Pandora said if you receive three stickers, you can get a free hot beverage from Northstar or Winans, or a free decorative candle from Vella nd Co.
“Not that you need an incentive to do good, but this is an opportunity for you to make sure that the good that you are doing can make a broader impact,” Pandora said.
She said the community can also support the Short North Alliance on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3. All gifts made to the Short North Alliance above $100 will be matched by Huntington Bank, and all donations will be entered into a raffle to win a festive prize pack.
