Helping The Homeless Put Their Best Foot Forward
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A new non-profit with an unusual mission is having its first fundraiser, tonight, at the Field House in Center City. The group provides a very special service to the homeless.
Cohen: "So what does it feel like? It itches and it burns?"
Man: "No, it itches."
Kara Cohen goes where few would tread: to the most neglected feet in the city.
"The homeless population often walks around in shoes that they didn't purchase themselves so they're ill-fitting, they're walking around in all kinds of weather, lots of hours a day, maybe don't get to change their socks very regularly."
Cohen is a home health care nurse but once a month she holds a foot clinic at the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, where homeless men soak their feet, get a foot rub, lotion, powder and clean socks.
"It's so rewarding because the guys feel so much better about themselves when they leave. You'll hear them say that: 'I feel so much better than when I came in.'"
Cohen started the clinic with a Schweitzer fellowship, last year, and recently formed a non-profit to keep it going, something its dozens of clients are hoping for.
"Oh, I think this is the best service offered here," one appreciative client says.
