2023-11-10 19:10:27
Those affected face life on the streets without regular access to food, water, or basic health services, exposing them to elevated risks of serious illness, mental health problems, substance abuse, and violence.
The program, which began with a soft launch in August 2023, is funded by the California Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP) through the Department of Health Care Services. It is a voluntary program that allows Medi-Cal plans to develop and implement programs that address homelessness and housing insecurity as social determinants of health.
Health plans: Blue Shield Promise, Community Health Group, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente and Aetna, collaborate with Father Joe’s Village and Refined Management Street Nutrition to provide primary care and nutrition services.
Father Joe’s Village’s mobile health team offers on-the-ground medical and outreach services such as wound care, prescription refills, and chronic disease management. Likewise, they seek to strengthen the capacity of existing street medicine services to serve more homeless people.
Refined Management’s food truck team offers hot, organic and culturally appropriate meals, along with hygiene items, operating in conjunction with Father Joe’s Community Medical Services Van. The goal is to gain the trust and participation of the unsheltered community, who may not otherwise feel comfortable with medicine.
The Father Joe’s and Refined Management health and nutrition teams operate together at designated locations, three days a week, from 8 a.m. to noon, at pre-selected safe campsites. This program not only seeks to align health and housing resources with access to food and clean water, but also to comprehensively improve the quality of life of San Diego’s homeless population.
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