Neighbors helping neighbors. Isn't that what "community" is all about?

Days after a study showed Charlotte wastes millions hospitalizing the chronically homeless, money from the Cannon Foundation will help with part of the solution.

Shelter Health Services, a free clinic for the homeless, is renovating to increase its capacity at a time when the adjacent Salvation Army Center of Hope is tending to record numbers of homeless women and children.

Mike Sowyak, clinic executive director, said the project will allow it to treat 15 percent more people, along with adding new programs like HIV testing and childhood immunizations.

"There are a lot of women and children that we have not been able to see, leaving them with health issues that get worse," said Sowyak. "These people are trying to find jobs and move out, and that's difficult if they're sick or if their children are sick."

Shelter Health Services is one of about 10 free clinics serving a city that has about 6,500 homeless people.

Sowyak originally requested $25,000 from the Cannon Foundation for the renovation, but he says the organization gave him $35,000 so that the work could be done more quickly. The clinic is not a United Way agency and has an annual budget of $275,000.

Read the rest of this Charlotte Observer article, by Mark Price, here.