Personal Advisors should be aware that many of our guests enter the program with medical issues. Sometimes medical attention is required, and can be in an emergency room environment since free clinics in Orange County are more restrictive in taking on new patients. Should your guest require medical attention at an emergency room, we ask that the guest fill out paperwork required to qualify for medical services for indigents. This is best for the guest as well as the hospital providing the services. One of the necessary documents to qualify will be a letter from SHIP explaining the program and your guest's circumstances. The following letter should serve as a model for such a letter. Simply copy and customize based on your guest's unique situation.
Date
Hospital Name
Emergency Room Care
City
To whom it may concern:
This letter is intended to confirm that Guest Name is currently a guest resident in the Self-help Interfaith Program based in Orange County, California. The program is designed to accept homeless people who exhibit a strong will and commitment to become permanently self-sufficient. With help from a strong base of committed volunteers and a personal advisor, Guest Name will graduate from the program with money in the bank, a job, interim housing, and a fresh start in life. In the meantime, circumstances do not allow our guest to pay for the medical services that he/she required at your facility on date. We request that you consider Guest Name a medical servises indigent. Let us know if we can provide any additional information to expedite the process.
Sincerely
Personal Advisor
Self-help Interfaith Program
