Easing the pain

Clinic at shelter offers chiropractic, acupuncture, massage.

JOSEPH DITS
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- On Monday and Wednesday evenings, folks carry their pain into the Hope Rescue Mission basement and enter the door to Preventive Medicine.

Jacquelyn Ice, 35, lives with endometriosis, a chronic disorder that stabs her in the gut.

Edward R. Smith, 56, bears the neck and back aches that have plagued him for more than nine years since he, in a drunken stupor, drove a car over a culvert in Tennessee.

Patty Howard, 46, licking a heart-shaped lollipop, boasts two heart valves that were replaced in 2004, plus the arthritis in her lower back.

They climb onto tables where therapists knead their muscles or stick tiny acupuncture needles into their flesh or place electrodes and heat pads on their backs.

The patients tease each other, riddling the cozy therapy cubicles with giggles.

"Are you going to swing me?" Howard asks Dr. Alfred L. Pinto, the chiropractor who oversees the clinic.

She refers to the flexion table -- segmented so that it can bend horizontally like an earthworm -- on which patients recline as Pinto gently guides the body in a side bend for a few seconds. It decompresses the spine, Pinto says.

The patients cannot say their pain has vanished, but that it has diminished. That's what keeps them coming back for weekly treatment.

Ice says her surgeon, who had removed 11 pounds of a tumor from her abdomen a few years ago, recommended she try it, including the acupuncture.

"My cousin has the same thing I do," Ice says. "She was going to a place to get it (therapies) done, but it was expensive."

Pinto owns Preventive Medicine, doing the same kinds of therapy for private-pay clients at its offices in South Bend, Mishawaka, New Carlisle and Plymouth. On Dec. 26, the business started offering this free service for the shelter residents in Hope's Family Life Center.

"We've been so fortunate, we felt we needed to give back," Pinto says.

He says all of the equipment -- even the lettering on the door's window -- was donated by businesses, a value of about $15,000. And staff members donate their time. Five chiropractors rotate their time, aided by a team of massage therapists and others trained in rehabilitation.

"The only thing we don't have here is an X-ray machine," he says.

Pinto says the clinic reviews the client's medical history before starting therapy. He says the clinic serves as a complement to the traditional forms of medical treatment the patients may be getting. Sometimes patients are able to let up on pain pills.

In the end, Pinto says, it teaches patients to manage their conditions.

"Nobody is going to cure back or joint pain," he says. "We just control it."

Pamela Barr, 46, started coming to the clinic in early February for a knot of pain on the back of her neck, maybe from the strain of her jobs last year working at a computer and lifting adults as a caregiver.

She receives massage and electrical muscle stimulation.

"It (the pain) has lessened a whole lot," says Barr, who doesn't work now but focuses on Hope's programs to rebuild her life.

The clinic sees about 17 to 25 patients in the three hours the clinic is open on a typical night. Compared with his private patients, Pinto says, many who come have neglected to seek medical help over the years, causing their problems to grow worse.

Some have eaten poorly, loaded too heavily with the stuff like soft drinks and chips that can plunge a body into diabetes or high blood pressure. So, Preventive Medicine offers them counseling on eating a healthy, balanced diet, Pinto says. In the future, he hopes to work with Hope's kitchen to make the meals healthier.

Howard, who had heart surgery, says she started taking acupuncture to help her stop smoking, then let up on the smokes for three weeks. Then as the acupuncture -- and perhaps her attention -- focused on her arthritic back instead, she puffed heavily again.

Pinto says the clinic helps patients to stop smoking in 85 percent of cases. But that depends on two things: The treatment must be consistent. And the patient must be committed to quitting.

Dr. Alfred L. Pinto, a chiropractor, does an adjustment on Patty Howard's arthritic back in the free clinic that Pinto's business, Preventive Medicine, offers to residents of Hope Rescue Mission in South Bend. He's using what's called the flexion table.

Tribune Photo BARBARA ALLISON

Hope honors those who give
Troyer family presented first 'Beacon' award; three organizations earn 'Spirit' recognition.

JIM MEENAN
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Hope, inspiration and simple charitable works were saluted at Hope Rescue Mission's 54th annual community luncheon.

But more often than not, those who were being saluted for their works offered sincere appreciation for the opportunity to serve.

"They've blessed us obviously more than we have blessed them," said Ed Ryan, administrator at Granger Christian School.

Granger Christian was one of three recipients of the Spirit of Hope award at last week's luncheon. Other winners included h.o.p.e. Club of St. Joseph's High School and Preventive Medicine, PC, of Michiana.

In addition, the LeRoy S. and Phyllis Troyer family was honored with the first Beacon of Hope Award, which will become an annual award.

The program was emceed by Charlie Adams and attended by 320 people. It included not just video detailing how the various groups had helped Hope Rescue Mission, but presentations of the award from some of the people at Hope who had directly benefited.

Here's a look at the various groups honored and why they were chosen:

-The program ended with the Troyer family, LeRoy and Phyllis, Terry and Cyndi, Ronald and Donald and Beth, receiving the Beacon of Hope Award.

LeRoy started the Troyer Group, a family-owned, full-service planning, design and construction firm in 1971, and has since been joined by sons Terry and Ron. Don is a physician with Family Medicine of South Bend, P.C.

They have helped not just thousands of people in this community, Hope Rescue Executive Director David Vanderveen said in presenting the award, but hundreds of thousands of people in the world.

"But it's not just what they do, but how they do it," he said, citing what he termed their "Christ-like" humility and service."

The family has helped in various ways, including running a chapel service, serving meals, LeRoy serving as the chairman of the capital campaign for the Family Life Center, Don serving as a board member since 1990, and being financial supporters of Hope for a long time, Vanderveen said.

He said he considers them models for how they work in the community.

"All of you in the room are a part of the Hope Rescue program," LeRoy said upon accepting the award for the family. "It's a pleasure for us to be a part of that.

"We do want to be of service. There is so much opportunity to serve.

"It is because of our love of Christ that we serve."

Service can begin with a neighbor, whomever is in front of us, near us, wherever we meet someone, he reminded the crowd.

"We can all contribute."

-Granger Christian School. For six years the students of Granger Christian School hosted a benefit basketball game, the admission for which is a can of food. More than a ton of food has been donated over the years, topped off by the school raising extra money this year to buy beef for the mission's kitchen.

The money was originally collected to buy dentures for Hope Rescue Mission client Art Latimore, but there was enough extra to buy a side of beef, Ryan said.

"Then Art came back to thank the kids and he was like a rock star or basketball hero coming back," Ryan said.

He told the students it made him feel like he was worth something again, Ryan said. "That really touched the hearts of the kids."

-h.o.p.e. Club of St. Joseph's High School. The club of students supports many nonprofit organizations in the community, including Hope Rescue Mission in the past with donations of equipment and food. However, the last two years, the club has taken a different route, helping two clients of Hope with specific needs.

They gave Michelle Weathersby dentures and Art Lovick a recliner chair that allowed him to adjust to his new prosthesis after his leg was amputated.

Both people were on hand to make presentations.

"I am just so grateful to you all," Michelle said.

"I just want to say thanks," Art said before getting hugs and handshakes from the St. Joseph's students.

"Everyone wins in this situation," Susan Lightcap, the adviser for the club said. "Seeing these two standing here is the real gift."

There will be others in the future "who will have the same kind of help because of these kids here who are involved at St. Joseph's," she said.

-Preventive Medicine, PC. In December 2006, Preventive Medicine PC opened a free clinic at the Family Life Center two nights a week. The facility offers the same services of its other clinics, including chiropractic care, massage therapy, physical therapy and nutritional guidance. They also collected $10,000 in donations of equipment for the facility from vendors.

Dr. Alfred Pinto called Preventive Medicine's work at the center one of the "highlights of my 10 years of practice."

"They inspire us when we come in here," he said.

He also saluted his staff in the room for all their work, but also stated, "To me, we are very fortunate to be among those who can help with the clinic."