Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless
|
|
Happy Retirement, Carolyn Ellison! |
|
After 38 years of service with Alameda County, Carolyn Ellison has retired. Carolyn joined Health Care for the Homeless in 2006 and she has consistently and steadfastly supported the program through many exciting and challenging times as the program has grown in response to the homeless crisis in our community.
Those privileged to work with Carolyn know her not only for her tireless work ethic and dedication to supporting our health center, but for her deep commitment to social justice, day-to-day kindness, never-ending spiritual growth, and clear-eyed service to our community. Carolyn always led with compassion, partnership, and kindness. She will be deeply missed and her lasting contributions to those we serve will continue.
Thank you, Carolyn, and wherever the good fight is being fought we’ll see you there!
|
|
Jade Way
Social Worker
Jade joins Health Care for the Homeless as a Social Worker with the StreetHealth Team. She brings eight years of experience coordinating social services and advocating for the chronically houseless and elderly in San Francisco. Jade is motivated by her commitment to social justice, building community strength, and health equity. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology from the University of Michigan.
|
|
Every winter we turn our hearts and minds towards remembering those who have died in homelessness or as a result of homelessness. National Homeless Person’s Memorial Day is held on the Winter Solstice every year across the country, including Alameda County, where at least four different memorials were held this year, including memorials at the TRUST Clinic and at St. Mary’s Community Center, co-sponsored by the ACHCH Consumer/Community Advisory Board.
We mourn the passing of at least 50 former or current ACHCH patients in 2020 and many others who perished while experiencing homelessness this year. We are committed to keep fighting to maintain people’s health and recognize the important contributions that all people can bring to our lives.
As part of our health center responsibilities, ACHCH is pressing for the establishment of an Alameda County Homeless Mortality Task Force. This task force would be a collaboration with the public health department, the coroner’s office, epidemiology, health care and homeless services providers, advocates, and people experiencing homelessness. Our goal is to create, guide, review, and conduct ongoing homeless mortality review processes so that we can prevent needless deaths in the homeless community.
|
|
ACHCH Street Health Team Featured
in the New York Times
|
|
Our street health team was highlighted in the New York Times addressing the rates of COVID-19 infection among the homeless population in Oakland as well as across the nation.
|
|
Opioid Overdose Responder and Naloxone Training
|
|
ACHCH provides virtual Opioid Overdose Responder and Naloxone trainings every Tuesday from 1:00pm-2:00pm and every Friday from 2:00pm-3:00pm. Instructions to pick up a naloxone kit will be provided after you have received the training.
To register for a training, please visit our website at achch.org. You must either work or reside in Alameda County to attend the training.
If you would like to anonymously report an overdose, please complete and submit the Overdose Reporting form on our website. We appreciate any information you can provide.
Please email us at [email protected] with any questions or if you need additional information.
|
|
Thank You for Your Service, Fr. Rigo!
Fr. Rigo has served as a founding member of the Health Care for the Homeless Commission since 2016.
During this time, Fr. Rigo has made a significant contribution to the development of the Commission and worked to strengthen our health center.
He is the founder and Executive Director of the Multicultural Institute (MI) and most recently, MI has taken on a critical role supporting day laborers and immigrant families in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are deeply grateful for Fr. Rigo's support of Health Care for the Homeless and his tireless commitment to our community. Thank you!
|
|
Welcome New Commissioners! |
|
Sabrina Fuentes
Community Health Outreach Worker
HEPPAC
|
|
Dr. Gerard Jenkins, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Native American Health Center
|
|
Greg Kats
Rent Program Director
City of Alameda Housing Authority
|
|
ACHCH leads shelter and street-based COVID-19 testing teams both in rapid response to COVID-19 cases and in providing Community Care testing to “hot spots.”
On November 1, 2020, the program rolled out a new ACHCH Community Care COVID-19 Testing team to carry out ongoing shelter and homeless site testing through the fall and winter months.
To date, ACHCH and their partners have provided over 6,100 COVID-19 tests in 360 homeless testing events with a positivity rate of 2.1%.
ACHCH is also providing a lead role in supporting the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine to the homeless community. Having supported widespread vaccination of service providers, we are now working on vaccination efforts in shelters and street settings.
We update the COVID-19 guidance and materials on a regular basis and continue to facilitate our weekly outreach and shelter provider COVID-19 community calls to keep our community informed and mobilized. Please visit our website for more information on COVID-19 and community calls.
|
|
Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless
510-891-8950
384-14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612-3208
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
