“Bringing Psychiatric Diagnosis and Medication to the Chronically Homeless with the support of an existing location, low barrier outreach, and resources.”

In January 2025, CAM launched a new program at our downtown campus called CAMpassion Care. CAM serves many individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis with no access to health insurance, treatment or medication. We see and serve several of them on a daily basis, and it’s heartbreaking to hear their stories. They aren’t able to get the help and care they need due to their mental state. We saw a huge gap that needed to be filled, and CAM was called to fill that gap. CAM’s goal is to provide a space that meets their very particular need which is daily support with their mental health. Essentially, we started the CAMpassion Care program for the clients we regularly serve that need mental health treatment. They come to CAM daily for food, showers, and access to restrooms. They are the chronically homeless that cannot function in the typical congregate shelter care and thus never move forward off the streets. Typical access to health care, even if it is low or no cost, requires first making an appointment, getting a diagnosis which means going to an appointment (with no phone or transportation), all the while they may be experiencing paranoia and or severe anxiety. Then if they manage that part they would have to be able to fill a prescription, pick it up, be responsible for the daily dosing, carry it around with them, (if there are any side effects somehow get ahold of the doctor) etc. Our program allows them to come to CAM with no appointment required, see a psychiatric nurse practitioner, have the medication delivered and our staff of outreach workers administers and tracks their dosage.  The point of all of this is to get them stabilized and at a point to be help seeking which would allow them to apply for Medicare, get enrolled in community programs that address mental health and apply and qualify for housing of some kind.  All things they currently cannot do right now. This is just one creative solution we are working on to address the needs of the chronically homeless in order to help them move from living on the streets to being housed.

Ultimately, the program provides access to diagnosis, treatment, and medication on a daily basis. We’ve partnered with medical professionals who work alongside us who help administer medications to those in need, while also treating severe mental health symptoms. This is the kind of care this particular population would not get elsewhere due to their mental state. This is groundbreaking work for the chronically homeless individuals that we serve, and we’re making strides to better these people’s lives. As of May 2025, we’ve already helped 29 clients total, and we have 15 clients who are actively involved in daily treatment. That’s 29 people who wouldn’t have otherwise been helped, but now, today, they’re thriving and getting the help and resources they need to just, live. We hope to help them navigate next steps for transition to a community organization, detox, housing and a variety of other support and resources. It’s truly a miracle the work that’s being done, and we want to thank everyone who’s had a hand in making this program a success.

Untreated mental health issues are often a significant contributing factor to chronic street homelessness. The mental health trauma experienced by these individuals can cause significant problems for the community, businesses, and even the individual’s own family. The cost of untreated mental health is substantial for both the individual and the community, including expenses related to police, EMS, hospitals, jails, the DA’s office, and nonprofits providing daily care for years (e.g., food, clothing, showers, staff). Estimates of the annual cost to taxpayers and the community for homelessness vary, with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness estimating it between $30,000 and $50,000 per person. Over many years (10-15 years), this can amount to hundreds of individuals costing millions of dollars annually. Additionally, at least 30% of the chronically homeless are estimated to have serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, costing a minimum of $12,000,000 annually for 400 individuals. The current model for treating mental health relies on individuals recognizing their own mental health problems, seeking help, making and attending appointments, getting a diagnosis, filling prescriptions, and managing their symptoms—all while living on the streets or needing stable housing to access care. This model is rarely effective.

• Our Premise is that our interaction with said clients will make it easier for the client to avail themselves of this opportunity. This is an effort to offer opportunity to our existing clients. We do not desire to set up a community clinic that people send clients to.
• We will set up a specific criteria about what clients could be eligible that we know is possible but also ensure that we are working with individuals that come to the campus frequently and long enough for us to be able to serve and evaluate them. This criterion will be easily met and at the same time we can learn from this to assess best practices for this as a replicable and viable means to address mental health issues for the chronically homeless.
• Our existing relationships with the clients, will help us to explain client behavior, upon initial examination and ongoing behavioral changes or concerns; so that someone is monitoring their use of the meds or if they miss doses etc. This will ensure that the client has ongoing monitoring outside of the 2 days a week that the Nurse Practitioner comes on campus.
• This work would link the important medical mental health care to the housing issues and the client willbe receiving this care while also having someone working to help the client gain access to existing housing options when they are ready. These two critical components would no longer be working in Silos.
• This proposed intervention will work on the long-term solution by starting with mental health treatment/stability, while at the same time work to get the client through requirements to get disability support, which will make it easier for them to get long term and ongoing treatment because they will be funded. Finally, while this is working, the CAM outreach staff will be working with housing providers to resolve the overall goal of helping this difficult population get off of the streets and into the right type of housing situation that meets their needs.
• If this program only helped 5 people get stabilized and off the streets in its first year, 5 people that are already costing our community $30,000 each or $150,000 a year on average (meaning each one if only having been on the streets for 5 years has cost us $750,000 minimally.) This investment is well worth it and a huge cost savings to the community and a priceless gift of quality of life for the individual served