TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) -
Tent city is once again rising in downtown Toledo's
Civic Center Mall.
Nearly one thousand
members of Toledo's homeless community will come here over the weekend to
receive free health and dental care, as well as food, clothing and a variety of
other services.
This year, emphasis is
being placed on women's health care, which includes mammograms and pap smears.
"And a pap is very
important test for a lady because it can prevent cervical cancer if you have
the test," said volunteer Chetti Smith.
The Lifeline Bus was
staffed by volunteers who administered the pap smears.
Jessica Thirkill came in
for one.
She's typical of most
homeless patients.
"It makes me feel
good that they have staff like this available because some people don't have
the necessary insurance to get it done," said Ms. Thirkill.
Results of the test are
known within minutes.
Volunteers say more free
services like this are necessary to keep the homeless healthy.
"Because I think we
all need to help each other. We can't count on other people to take care of
people's needs. We need to do what we can where we can," said volunteer
Vickie Hill.
The group 1 Matters
has sponsored Tent City since 1990.
The goal is to move the
homeless off the streets, into housing and connect people like Ms. Thirkill to
the services they need.
On Saturday, 20 women
were given pap smears inside the bus.
All came back with a
clean bill of health.
Tent City runs through
Sunday.
Copyright 2013 Toledo News Now. All rights reserved.
