PIP Shelter

¶ … People in Peril (PIP) shelter is aimed to help individuals overcome the challenges of drug and homelessness. The approaches taken the PIP shelter can improve service learning in a variety of ways. The counseling approach used at a PIP shelter could be used at a cancer research center to help meet a range of patient needs. Similarly, transportation assistance provided at a PIP shelter could be a valuable assistance in a service learning environment, as could increase user accountability. The People in Peril (PIP) Shelter is located in Worcester, MA.

The shelter is essentially a drop-in center that provides a number of survival services such as meals and accommodation, as well as other services to help stability and recovery. This includes evening clinics for the homeless and working poor, provides job and housing services, counseling, and a stabilization unit for those in continuing rehabilitation programs. The PIP shelter at Worcester provided 52,852 overnight stays, made 1,951 referrals to detox units, and provided transportation to 3,801 self-help meetings and medical appointments (PIP Shelter).

The PIP shelter is designed to help provide individuals with an opportunity to live drug-free, independently, and free of homelessness. The mission statement of the PIP shelter aims to help "the homeless, the working poor, indigent alcoholics, drug addicts and the deinstitutionalized mentally ill by providing opportunities for training, rehabilitation, education, care, treatment, housing, food and shelter, regardless of gender, race, color or creed with the goal of putting an end to homelessness" (PIP Shelter).

The shelter provides this assistance "regardless of gender, race, color, creed or sexual orientation" (Charity America.com). Service learning at a cancer resource center involves a number of aspects, including giving out hats or wigs to cancer patients who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. Similarly, providing makeup to cancer patients is an important part of service learning at cancer resource center. The information provided by the speaker from the PIP shelter can be applied directly to service learning.

One of the most important concepts that can be applied is one of broad-based counseling assistance. The PIP Center provides case managers who council clients on a number of issues ranging from transportation, education, job and housing (PIP Shelter). This approach could be successfully used in a service learning environment at a cancer resource center as a more holistic approach to managing patient needs. A case manager acting as a counselor could meet many currently unmet patients' needs with a cancer care setting, including needs for education, and advocacy.

Specifically, such a case manager may be able to give cancer patients information on treatment options, provide resources to educate the patient about the disease, put the patient in contact with support groups, and provide other needed services. Transportation assistance, another important service provided at the PIP shelter, could also be used effectively within a service learning environment at a cancer resource center. Many individuals undergoing cancer treatment likely face the challenges of getting reliable transportation to their medical appointments.

As such, service learning could integrate transportation assistance in to a more holistic program for meeting the needs of cancer patients. Recent changes to the PIP program instituted since the South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) took over management in April, 2004, could also be.