1st Annual March for the Uninsured
Celebrating National Health Center Week
In honor of National Community Health Center week, on Saturday, August 15th, LACHC staff, Board members, patients, donors and other stakeholders marched from our Skid Row clinic to our Boyle Heights clinic to demonstrate our commitment and service to the uninsured and underinsured residents of Los Angeles.
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From Homeless to Housed...
A Social Work Success Story!
At his initial LACHC medical visit, Rigoberto
received medical care for his many health problems, including a history of
stroke, diabetes, and partial foot amputation. In addition, Rigoberto was
referred to a social worker for assistance with housing. When Rigoberto first met
Gina Jones, MSW (a LACHC Social Worker), he was homeless, without identification,
income or contact with his family and using a manual wheelchair. Before
Rigoberto could apply for housing, he first needed identification. During the
process of obtaining his identification, he was reunited with his brother in San
Diego. Five months later, after much assistance from Ms. Jones navigating the housing process, Rigoberto moved into his own room (permanent
housing) in subsidized housing. Ms. Jones also assisted with acquiring an
electric wheelchair and submitting an application for disability benefits. When
his application for disability benefits was denied, Ms. Jones linked him with a
lawyer through Bet Tzedeck Legal Services. In Feb 2009, Rigoberto had his court
hearing re: disability benefits and is awaiting a decision from the court.
Rigoberto continues to receive medical, mental health, and social work services
from LACHC.
Rigoberto is just one of many individuals the mental health team has engaged. In just three years, the team has provided 3,863
case management visits and 1,017 mental health, therapy sessions.
Now, thanks in part to federal stimulus funding, our mental health department is expanding.
September 2009 inaugurates our first class of doctoral
graduate students in clinical psychology and marriage and family therapy. Five students
from four local graduate schools will support our services to the homeless and
uninsured. Under the supervision of our Mental Health Director, they will serve
at Joshua House, Pico Aliso, and 3 of our medical outreach sites. They will be
trained to provide behavioral and psychological interventions for chronic
disease management, such as diabetes, as well as psychotherapy interventions
for depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol recovery, and stress management. |
