‘Voice of hope.’ Help for the Tri-Cities most vulnerable and homeless

Leonardo Ramirez, 53, showed up at the Pasco branch of the Mid-Columbia Libraries Friday morning for a hot breakfast of eggs and pancakes.

Were it not for that meal he would have waited it out until the Union Gospel Mission served a meal that evening, he said.

He’s been coming to the library for the monthly Homeroom Connect since the program started a year ago — the brainchild of a Kadlec Regional Medical Center community health worker.

Maria Perez of Kadlec in Richland had been coming to the Pasco library on Hopkins Street once a week to reach out to people in need.

On one cold day a homeless man asked if she had any food.

That spurred her to ask the Pasco library branch if she could do more.

Now on one Friday a month — before the library opens — about 30 to 60 of the most vulnerable people in the Tri-Cities, many of them homeless, stop by for breakfast and help getting other resources.

“They get to feel welcome and cared (for),” Perez said. “It is just amazing when they still remember your name and they feel like human beings.”

Clothes, shoes and blankets are handed out. Steven Kravarik of Exclusive Barber Shop in Pasco sets up a haircutting station. Volunteers are ready with information on other resources that may help, including for medical care and coverage, dental care, domestic violence services, transportation, housing and addiction treatment.

Over the past year, Perez and other volunteers at the monthly event have gotten three people into addiction treatment. One regular at Homeroom Connect now is living in an Oxford House for sober living.

Support and compassion

Perez works to connect people with health care, making sure they know that care is available for free or on a sliding scale and that there are medical professionals ready to speak with them in Spanish.

In some cases she can help them get enrolled in Medicaid.

One of her clients, age 70, had stopped trusting the medical system, she said.

Perez encouraged her to schedule a doctor’s appointment and then went the extra step to accompany her to the first appointment.

“We try to break those barriers and make it easier to get a better life,” Perez said.

The work is personal for Perez, who said if she had had more support when she was younger her diabetic father might still be alive.

She remembers only speaking Spanish when she was 17, trying to translate for her father and feeling mistreated at medical appointments.

Help and support can take many forms.

In one case, she met a man, who used a wheelchair, when he sought her help because Ben Franklin Transit Dial-A-Ride had denied his application to use the service.

She offered help and kept in touch, as she does with many people she meets, texting him encouraging messages. “It’s another day. We are going to make it,” she might text.

When he stopped answering her texts, she knew something was wrong.

She tracked him down to a relative’s house where he was being abused and neglected, she said. As soon as he heard her voice at the door, he started crying. “His eyes were saying ‘Help me’,” she said.

She called 911 to get him taken to the hospital and then placed in a nursing home, she said.

“It doesn’t matter what they are struggling with, we try to help,” she said.

Ramirez was distressed Friday as temperatures were forecast to drop into the 20s over the weekend. His van, which has doubled as his home for the last year, was broken into and his portable heater stolen.

He had wheeled a folding baby stroller with some of his possessions into the Homeroom Connect event.

Perez could not do anything immediately that morning, but said she would look into possible solutions, such as a donation.

‘Voice for those less fortunate’

Hortencia Rodriguez, the Pasco Fire Department community resource manager, said Homeroom Connect helps build trust with people who are homeless.

Among the help she can offer is aiding people with documentation, whether they need to get an ID, a Social Security card or a birth certificate.

She also can help connect them with a primary care provider, which cuts down on 911 calls for fire department first responders.

“We are the voice for those less fortunate,” she said. “We are the little voice of hope.”

That can snowball into a better life for the people she and other volunteers help.

Rodriguez remembered one man who had come to the Tri-Cities from California with family members.

He had a stable life here and remained even when relatives left. But he fell in with the wrong crowd, began using drugs, lost his home and had his documentation stolen, Rodriguez said.

She and others were able to get him the documents he needed and clothing. They also helped him find a place to live — and then he found a job.

Mona Gonzalez, the library branch manager, said the project is in line with the library’s interest in serving the community. It provides needed services that the library cannot offer.

As a community hospital, Kadlec meets people where they are, said Erin Manukure, a Kadlec spokesperson. It knows some of the Tri-Cities most vulnerable people would need to take multiple buses to reach its facilities without Perez’s vision to meet them at the Pasco library.

Kadlec continues to look for support for the project. Among Homeroom Connect’s needs are businesses that are willing to sponsor a monthly breakfast or provide vouchers.

People who need resources or who want to donate to Homeroom Connect can call the Kadlec Community Resource Desk, which Perez helps staff. Call 509-942-2956 weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Homeroom Connect is usually on the third Friday of the month from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., but it can vary if library activities are scheduled.

This story was originally published October 30, 2023 at 5:00 AM.