The City of RefugeĀ is a non-profit organization aimed to improve sustainability for a local community in Atlanta. It consists of a homeless shelter for women and children within the zip code 30314- a neighborhood of crisis, social challenges, and financial need, but also one of hope and fortitude. As part of our community clinicals, my colleagues and I will be spending the next several weeks working on a quality improvement project with the City of Refuge.
One of the current issues being faced by the City of Refuge is extreme shortage of linen supply, including sheets and blankets, for residents of the shelter. A few years ago, a group of students had managed to set up contracts with local hotels to have linen delivered to the shelter periodically, but when the management shifted, the contract was no longer valid. Also, many of the residents often take the linen with them upon leaving the shelter, resulting in even lower quantities of linen for incoming residents.
Our aim is to not only discover why the contracts ended and hopefully re-establish some of them, but also to find other means of maintaining an adequate and consistent linen supply from other sources. The primary goal of our project is to assess and re-establish the Eden Village Project vision of providing an adequate supply of clean linens for residents with sustainable connections within the community.
This seemingly simple problem causes many complex issues for the volunteers and residents of the shelter, and any help would make a significant impact for this community. If you or anyone you know have connections with hotels that may be willing to provide linen, time or resources to deliver the linen once it has been acquired, financial ability to make a donationĀ to go towards the purchase of linens, or any other ideas or resources to assist with these efforts, please contact me via my student email at fpunja@emory.edu- you can make a real difference and your support is greatly appreciated!Ā