On Thursday, the Center for Respite Care was officially opened on a leased unit inside the Center for Chemical Addiction Treatment at 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. to house homeless individuals who were too sick to be in a shelter but not sick enough to be hospitalized.

The center is a program of the Health Resource Center of Cincinnati, a free nurse-managed medical/ psychiatric clinic in Over-the-Rhine and has been funded for $500,000 for four years by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The goals of the center are to 1) house people during recuperation from illness or injury, 2) screen all clients for communicable disease, 3) refer for appropriate follow up and, 4) initiate services related to housing, entitlements, and social needs.

Homelessness, affects 12,000 people a year in Hamilton County, and often results in individuals receiving insufficient, inappropriate, or no health care at all because there is no place to recuperate.

In 2003 more than 3,000 encounters for free medical care by homeless individuals were documented by the medical van in our city. Without effective interventions relatively minor illnesses escalate into major deteriorating situations requiring more extensive treatment than would have been necessary had the individual received appropriate care early in the illness.

But the most exciting news about the center is the fact that all three hospital systems, the Health Alliance, TriHealth and Mercy Health Partners, plus The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and several other foundations, philanthropies and homeless programs collaborated together without acrimony to support this much- needed service. With the potential to secure other federal, state and local funding, this excellent model of collaboration could well become the standard. Congratulations to the city of Cincinnati for a job well done.

Connie Wilson, of West Chester, is chief executive officer of the Health Resource Center and the Center for Respite Care. She sent in the above as part of our Making Life Better feature, which runs on Mondays.

Is there something you have encountered that makes life better in Greater Cincinnati? Send your suggestion to Ray Cooklis at rcooklis@enquirer.com