Peter

Peter is a fixture at Project Renewal’s mobile clinic and a staunch advocate for issues affecting people experiencing homelessness.  He has spent most of the last 30 years navigating life in Manhattan without stable housing – a circumstance that has shaped his health, but never his voice or sense of purpose.  

Peter first connected with Project Renewal in 2009, when the organization’s psychiatric outreach team visited a drop-in shelter where he worked at the time.  Two years later, when he found himself without housing again, he knew exactly where to turn – Project Renewal’s mobile medical units.  Today, he visits once a month for check-ups, medication, supplies, and referrals to specialists, including the shelter-based dentist.  What keeps Peter coming back is how the care is delivered, rather than just the care itself.  

“A lot of homeless people don’t trust hospitals,” he explains.  “Project Renewal is different.  They treat you with dignity, like a human being.  I recommend it to people all the time.”  That trust has turned Peter into more than a patient – he’s become someone who actively connects other New Yorkers to care he knows works.

That instinct to give back has a formal home now, too.  As a member of Project Renewal’s patient advisory board, Peter sits down monthly with the mobile clinic staff to share feedback directly from the people the service is meant to reach.  It’s a role built on partnership, not dependency.  Peter is actively shaping how Project Renewal’s medical care evolves to meet real needs.  

Looking ahead, Peter is thinking about what’s next.  He hopes to move into a permanent home soon, and he credits the stability he’s found in his health for making that future feel possible at all.

“I’m grateful to Project Renewal for helping me be in a position with my health where I can think about my future,” he says.