When a woman receives a diagnosis of metastatic cancer, surviving the illness should be the only thing she has to worry about. Unfortunately, for Michelle, an unsheltered person living in San Diego, simply finding the basics of life – food, shelter, and medical care – are constantly a moving target.
Government solutions would include having Michelle live in a dangerous congregate setting where she could easily contract a variety of infectious illnesses that would weaken her already decimated immune system. So Housing4Homeless, in partnership with several other local entities like the Mustard Seed Project at UCSD, PATH San Diego, and individual donors have provided secure hotel housing for Miss M. since Thanksgiving. But for people like her, every day is uncertain.
“As a cancer survivor myself I know just how hard it is to battle this disease while living in the safety & comfort of a house, let alone being houseless,” says Amie Zamudio, the Housing4Homeless advocate who assists San Diegans trying to live day to day on the streets.
Amie has spearheaded getting care for Miss M. at the Moore’s Cancer Center and has made sure that she has safe, secure housing. The goal is to find a stable place for her to be so she can concentrate on surviving her illness.