Guest presenter Linda Cundiff, COO of Health Care Without Walls

March 7th – Potluck: 6:30, talk 7:15. All are Welcome!!

HCWW is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free and compassionate medical care, education and advocacy to nearly 2,500 homeless women and their children in eight shelters, safe houses, and transitional fami- ly housing sites throughout the Greater Boston Area. Clients range in age from one day old to women in their nineties, and all of them are bound by the common need for human kindness – given without red tape, bureau- cratic hurdles, or stigmatization. HCWW provides specialty services including psychiatry, dermatology, and ob/gyn, and also provides patients with links to primary care and other medical, community and state resources.

Women experiencing homelessness, domestic violence or dire poverty are most vulnerable to developing chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, major neurological and mental illness, and their risk of premature death is more than 10 times greater than that of housed, insured and secure women. Despite abundant hospital, health center and government-backed homeless resources, homeless women fall through Boston’s health care safety net. Without HCWW, these women would die or remain untreated.

Guided by a determination to address and improve health disparities experienced by women who suffer severe and complex socio-economic and health conditions, the organization sends volunteer physicians and paid nurse care managers into Boston area shelters and transitional family housing sites. Community Health Workers sup- port discreet segments of our population to provide care coordination and support to overcome obstacles to improved health and well-being.