AUHS Socks It to the Cold

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

A pile of over 2,000 pairs socks AUHS collected to donate to the Mental Health America (MHA) Village, a homeless assistance program in Long Beach, Ca.

American University of Health Sciences (AUHS) collected over 2,000 pairs of socks to donate to the homeless this winter. AUHS Co-founder, Pastor Gregory Johnson and AUHS staff members arrived in the Mental Health America (MHA) Village, a homeless assistance program in Long Beach, with a van filled with bags of new socks on Thursday, December 15th, 2016.

The annual sock drive was coordinated by AUHS Director of Marketing and Publications, Maria Maloles.

“I am always looking forward to do this project. Socks are one of the most important things that the homeless need and yet rarely get,” Maloles said, “A lot of people assume that socks are just for winter, but it’s not.  They need them all year round. I would continue on and collect and donate as much as I can.”

Pastor Johnson and his personnel received a warm greeting from the MHA Village’s staff members including Personal Service Coordinator, Alvaro Gomez and Program Coordinator, Marjorie Solorzano. After Pastor Johnson and his staff helped carry the socks inside the building, they were given a tour of the facilities.

MHA Village Program Coordinator Marjorie Solorzano and Personal Service Coordinator Alvaro Gomez gives Pastor Johnson, Maria Maloles and Chantal Jura a tour of their facilities.

“We are the first point of contact for everybody that comes through. We serve as a funnel,” Solorzano said, “We do a lot of linkage and get people enrolled into whatever program they might qualify for.”

The MHA Village provides many housing assistance, mental and physical health care services to the homeless, whom Solorzano referred to as their “clients.” Their staff included a team of social workers, a licensed psychiatric technician (LPT) and a prescriber.

The facilities was equipped with showers, clothes, personal lockers, and a laundry room for their clients. The MHA Village had an “Education Project” room where their clients had access to computers, giving them the opportunity to sign up for an email account, register for an identification card and more. The building even served as a mailing address for many of their homeless members.

The MHA Village offers internships for students from various Cal State, tech and community colleges. They have had over 500 interns in the last year, according to Solorzano. During the tour, Pastor Johnson and Jura expressed their interest in having AUHS’ nursing and pharmacy students volunteer at the MHA Village.

AUHS delivers over 2,000 pairs of socks to the MHA Village to give to the homeless this winter.

“We’re different than most other schools because we are a Christian-based, minority-serving university,” AUHS Director of Affiliations and Development, Chantal Jura said.

Jura then discussed the various charitable events AUHS offered to the community such as Acts of Love and Giving Thanks, where students help provide needy families and individuals with free meals and health care services.

“We are constantly trying to teach our future nurses that it’s not just about the money,” Jura said, “We teach them to use the skills that they learn to give back to the community and make a difference.”

AUHS thanks the MHA Village for their hospitality and commends them for their efforts to help those who are the most vulnerable in our society. We hope to collaborate with the MHA Village in the near future. AUHS also wants to thank everyone who has donated socks this year. This sock drive would not have been possible without your support and generosity.

AUHS is a private, for-profit, minority owned, minority serving, Christian-based university whose mission is to educate and equip students with life careers and to produce quality health care professionals for the community, the nation and the world. It is a university where appreciation of life and one’s spiritual reason for existence can be nurtured.

AUHS offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) and a Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR). To request more information, email admissions@auhs.edu or call (562) 988-2278. For the latest news, pictures and videos of American University of Health Sciences’ events, like us on Facebook @auhs.edu and follow us on Twitter @AUHS_Campus and Instagram @auhsedu.