Book club serves homeless men

Every Monday at 4:00 p.m., fans of Stephen King, Louis L'Amour, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X gather at 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter in Cleveland to discuss books. At a time when polls indicate that book reading is declining, the homeless men in this shelter are reading two books a month, according to an article by Jacqueline Marino appearing on ABC News online.

Donna Kelly, an outreach nurse with Care Alliance, a health care provider for the homeless, began the club last fall after noticing how many homeless men brought books to the health clinic she helped run at the shelter. The books for the book club are supplied by the Cleveland Public Library.

Kelly tries to bring health literacy into every meeting without disrupting the excitement generated by the book discussions. Sometimes the book club has even inspired its members to change their lives, as when, after a field trip to hear an author's talk, one man acknowledged his alcohol problem and said he was ready to see a counselor.

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