Wednesday, February 5, 2025
2/5/2025
The mission of Circle the City (CTC) is to create and deliver innovative healthcare solutions that compassionately address the needs of all individuals facing homelessness in Maricopa County, Arizona. Founded in 2008, we served 9,000 individuals last year. CTC provides integrative healthcare services, which include two medical respite centers, two family health centers, five medical mobile units, and three street medicine teams. Because of the vulnerability of the people we care for and the lack of access to care they experience while being unhoused, the patient presents to us with complex health issues and co-morbidities. Due to the many complexities of social determinants of health (SDOH), medical and behavioral health care provided strictly during traditional clinic business hours often does not allow patients to access the care they need. Lack of transportation, childcare needs, limited hours to attend or obtain work, food, shelter, or resource center assistance, and environmental factors such as heat are just some of the many factors that play a role in a patient’s inability to obtain medical or behavioral health care during standard clinic hours. The Maricopa Association of Governments’ 2024 Point-in-Time Homelessness Count report highlighted a significant challenge: 43% of individuals experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County are unsheltered. This means that out of the 9,435 individuals surveyed, nearly half lack access to sheltered settings, transitional housing, or other forms of accommodation. Our mission is twofold: to provide comprehensive healthcare services to all unhoused individuals in our county and to bridge the gap in care for those who are not currently connected to services. Extending our outreach clinic hours is crucial to achieving these goals. By offering expanded hours, we can reach more individuals who may not have regular access to healthcare due to their living conditions. This initiative will enable us to provide medical care, preventive services, and essential screenings directly to individuals where they are, whether on the streets, in encampments, or other locations not typically served by traditional healthcare settings. This proactive approach not only ensures that more unhoused individuals receive timely and appropriate medical attention but also establishes trust and continuity of care. By meeting people where they are, we can address their immediate health needs, establish ongoing relationships, and connect them to broader healthcare and social services networks. Extending our outreach hours is a critical step toward closing care gaps for the most vulnerable members of our community. The Expanded Hours grant will allow CTC to provide medical and behavioral health coverage to those most vulnerable in our community. In general, the grant would allow our organization to staff a team to provide care after standard clinic hours, with options for evening and weekend coverage. Medical and Behavioral health providers, working with a Medical Coordinator in an Outreach vehicle, will be able to provide care to patients in a variety of after-hours and weekend settings, including street medicine outreach, shelters, resource centers, food distribution locations, and heat relief centers throughout the city. The goal of the expanded hours will be to provide the same access to high quality healthcare to individuals who cannot obtain it during normal business hours.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).