Calgary woman offers compassion, dignity and first aid to city's less fortunate
CBC
Calgarian Jennifer Rapuano-Kremenik says there's not much her non-profit organization, Harvest Hills Cares Calgary, won't do to help the city's less fortunate.
"The only thing we won't do is pay for bail," Rapuano-Kremenik said with a smile and a chuckle.
Nor, she says, will the group give out cash.
But she says she and her team of volunteers will drive a senior to get a prescription filled and paid for, enrol a struggling student into a course, pay someone's utility bill, and more often than not, drive around to different homeless encampments to drop off food, clothing and other essentials.
"Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," said Rapuano-Kremenik.
"Just because they had a bad go at something doesn't mean they're horrible or terrible people."
On the day CBC News caught up with her, the former army medic was about to change someone's bandages at a northeast Calgary encampment.
Rapuano-Kremenik says she first met Larry a few weeks ago, when she spotted him leaning on a broomstick, having trouble walking. She quickly pulled over in her Honda Civic, grabbed her first-aid kit and asked if he needed help.
Larry told her his legs were infected from a bad bike scrape, but he didn't feel comfortable going to emergency. So she peeled off his socks, cleaned his wounds and bandaged him up on the spot.
Since then, she's had to track him down to change his dressing — just one of the challenges Rapuano-Kremenik faces, reconnecting with people whom city bylaw pushes along or moves for safety concerns.
Larry says her efforts are rare and welcome.
"When you are not used to having somebody there care about you, and then all of sudden there is somebody there who actually cares, you can tell," said Larry, as his eyes teared up and his voice started to shake.
Rapuano-Kremenik started the non-profit organization the day the city got shut down with the pandemic. She did it with the help of some generous donations from high profile Calgarians.
She thought a lot of people were going to need help getting groceries, or to pay their bills, especially the city's less fortunate.
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