Contact: Richard P. Gulla
781-434-7101
rgulla@mms.org
Kimberly O’Sullivan, M.D. (center), president of the Charles River District Medical Society, presents a donation to Community Day Center Board President Angela Lordi (right) and Board Member Betty Rots (left) on behalf of area physicians to support the agency’s efforts to help homeless adults.
Waltham, Mass. -- May 29 -- Community Day Center of Waltham, the only walk-in day center for homeless adults west of Boston, has received a $3,500 charitable grant from the physicians of the Charles River District Medical Society to support the agency’s efforts to help homeless adults.
District Society President Kimberly O’Sullivan, M.D. presented the gift May 23 to agency President Angela Lordi and Board Member Betty Rots in front of the future home of the agency on Felton Street in Waltham.
“Community Day Center is the essence of what volunteering and helping those less fortunate is all about,” said Dr. O’Sullivan, a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice in Wellesley. “With only three paid staff and their doors open to anyone 18 and older, the agency every year helps hundreds of individuals who face the multiple challenges of housing, health care, isolation, hunger, stress, and even violence. As the Center operates primarily on donations and volunteers, our physicians are honored to help these dedicated people fill a great and growing need in the community.”
“We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Charles River District and its physicians,” said agency president Angela Lordi. “This donation will help us to rehabilitate our new building and allow us to increase our aid to homeless adults. A donation from the physicians is a particularly meaningful gesture, as health issues are among the leading causes of homelessness in our adult population.”
Community Day Center, approaching its tenth anniversary of service to the community, has been operating in the First Presbyterian Church of Waltham since it opened in September 2003 and now helps more than 675 individuals every year. The building that the agency purchased at 16 Felton Street will allow for expanded facilities, including a kitchen and rooms for offices and confidential counseling for the guests. No date has been set for the opening of the new location, as renovations must be completed and permitting from the city must be secured first. For more information, including ways to help, visit www.communitydaycenter.org.
The Charles River District Medical Society is one of 20 district medical societies that comprise the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association of physicians with more than 24,000 members. The District covers 16 communities west of Boston, including Waltham, Needham, Newton, and Wellesley, and has more than 1,000 members who work and live in those communities. For more information, visit www.massmed.org.
