St. John Center for Homeless - Louisville, KY - July, 2007

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July, 2007 - St. John Goes The Extra Mile

St. John News - Monthly Feature Stories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 5, 2007

Contact: Keith Steer

502-568-6758

ST. JOHN CENTER GOES EXTRA MILEFOR HOMELESS MAN BATTLING CANCER

LOUISVILLE, KY – Thanks to assistance provided by St. John Center for the Homeless, a chronically homeless man has been given a new lease on life. Last January Richard “Red” Cave received the devastating news that he had an inoperable baseball-sized tumor behind his heart. The growth was identified as a fast-growing form of lung cancer. Needless to say, his prognosis was less than optimistic.

St. John Center stepped up to help Cave receive treatment and arranged for him to have a healing bed at St. Vincent de Paul. The stricken man was soon placed under the care of an oncologist and began an aggressive campaign of chemotherapy and radiation at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center. It was touch and go for a while as he was hospitalized several times due to dehydration and other side effects of the cancer treatment.

As Cave battled the disease, Sister Kathleen Sheehan, executive director of St. John Center, freed up Social Services counselor Jay Fornwalt and longtime volunteer Jan Elder to assist him during the debilitating treatment process. The pair took turns transporting the ailing man to and from treatments and doctor’s appointments.

Fornwalt and Elder visited Cave during hospital stays, helped him negotiate the often confusing healthcare system for the indigent, assisted in obtaining prescription medications, and later orchestrated a move to a local nursing home where he continues recuperating. St. John Center was also instrumental in getting Cave approved for disability benefits.

The result of the treatment, and the TLC received at St. John Center, is nothing short of miraculous. After his last visit with the oncologist Cave was pronounced “cancer free.” Fornwalt is actively seeking housing for Cave.

“Unfortunately we cannot provide this level of service for everyone who is ailing, but this man was the exception. He simply would not have survived if he continued living on the street. He had no way to get to his appointments, no way to get the medicine he needed and no place to lie down and rest during this long and difficult treatment,” Sister Sheehan said.

According to Sheehan, there has long been a need for healthcare and recuperative facilities for the poor and homeless. “The truth is there just aren’t many options for a homeless person who is sick or recovering from surgery or an injury. Even those who undergo major surgery are often back on the street within two or three days. They need a place where they can get a bed and care until they are well enough to fend for themselves,” said Sister Sheehan.

Located at 700 E. Muhammad Ali Blvd. (at the intersection of Clay Street), St. John Center is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. 365 days a year to provide shelter, showers, restrooms, telephone and mail service, counseling for alcoholism, drug addiction and/or mental illness; legal aid, veterans services, job and housing assistance, and a successful treatment and recovery program. All of these critically important services are provided free of charge.

The ultimate goal of St. John Center is to encourage and empower the formerly homeless to become free of their addictions, find a job, acquire housing and live independently.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with any of the parties involved in this story, contact Keith Steer at St. John Center for the Homeless, 700 E. Muhammad Ali Blvd., Louisville, KY, (502) 568-6758, or e-mail Keith Steer.