Means’ Work with the Homeless Recognized
Roseanna H. Means, MD, of the Department of Medicine and founder and executive director of Women of Means—a non-profit that sends volunteer physicians into shelters to provide free medical care to homeless women—recently received significant grants and recognition for her work.
Tufts Health Plan granted Women of Means $20,000 to connect homeless women to mainstream medical resources; the Middlesex Savings Bank made a grant of $10,000 to help pay for nurse case management; and Boston Scientific Foundation made a $20,000 grant to support Women of Means interdisciplinary training program.
This spring, radio station MAGIC 106.7 awarded Means and seven other women its ‘Exceptional Women Award.’ Means was celebrated for making the decision to make a difference.
Women of Means sends 16 volunteer medical professionals into 12 shelters in the Boston area to help connect homeless, poor and battered women and their children to existing medical services. The free care has a value of about $500,000 annually, translating to 6,800 patient visits in 2005.