On February 16, 2023, Dompet Dhuafa USA distributed Zakat funds to Shelter Sehati, which is a program managed by Dompet Dhuafa Singgalang. A total of $8,000 funds were distributed to the temporary housing for patients of chronic diseases, who needed a place to stay but couldn’t afford to rent a house or a hotel.  

Shelter Sehati is a patient shelter that has been in operation since 2018, with over 3,000 beneficiaries. The majority of beneficiaries are from West Sumatra, Jambi, and Bengkulu. 

The Shelter Sehati was established out of concern for patients and families of patients from outside the city of Padang who are undergoing treatment and need a temporary place to stay while waiting for the next treatment schedule.

Unfortunately, these patients do not have extra money or relatives in the city of Padang to help with their stay. This causes many patients, and their families to sleep and rest in the hospital hallways and mosques nearby. 

The Shelter Sehati, located near RSUD M. Djamil Padang, a national hospital in Sumatra, aims to provide facilities for indigent patients and their accompanying families to rest in a suitable place while waiting for the next treatment schedule. 

In 2023, with the funds that DD USA sent, the Shelter Sehati is able to accommodate up to 21 patients per month, and up to 31 family members of the patients.

The shelter facilities include 11 rooms, each with two mattresses, a cupboard and a fan, a kitchen, and four bathrooms. The majority of those who benefit are those with chronic diseases such as; cancer, hydrocephalus, and congenital heart disease. 

The Shelter Sehati not only provides a place to stay, but it also has amenities such as an ambulance service that can also be used as a hearse, a Quran reading program, morning physical exercises, monthly grocery shopping, and informational health seminars which are held to fill the free time of the patients and their families who accompany them.