South End Life: 'Street Medicine' Expands Mobile Health Care for Unhoused Residents in South King County

"I was raised to believe that the moral of a society is measured by how they take care of the vulnerable people," said Semone Andu, the regional health administrator for Public Health – Seattle & King County's (PHSKC) Healthcare for the Homeless Network. Andu, who hails from White Center, has a decade of service, outreach, and supervisory work experience with adults and youth living unhoused. He oversees the program that promotes health among residents lacking permanent, stable housing.

Until March, the PHSKC's mobile medical clinic, now called the Street Medicine Program, offered free medical help and outreach services out of a 39-foot recreational vehicle. Those services began in 2008. One of the vehicles was a common monthly fixture at the Rainier Valley Food Bank pop-up at Paradise Baptist Church.

The large vehicles were retired earlier this year, and service has been replaced with a fleet of three smaller vans, two of which are Sprinter vans. Andu said using the vans would be more effective than the RVs because the vans are easier to park.

The teams of providers on these vans offer wound care; care for acute and chronic conditions; testing for STDs, HIV, and Hepatitis C; and other services. The program is free, and no insurance is needed for people who are living homeless or who were recently unhoused.

The vans are used for outreach to people on the street and at encampments. They'll also schedule regular visits to "anchor sites," such as food banks and community centers. Mobile medical services in South King County may be tweaked over time to adapt to demand.

King County's 2024 Unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) count revealed the number of people experiencing homelessness had increased 26% since 2022. Of the more than 16,800 unhoused people in the study, about 19% of the population was in South King County.

Andu said that historically, the unhoused community was concentrated around services in the downtown Seattle, Ballard, and Yesler neighborhoods. Since the pandemic, Andu said people living homeless have been migrating out of Seattle to areas like Burien, Renton, Tukwila, White Center, and into Federal Way. Outreach providers see more asylum seekers in places like Riverton Church in Tukwila, which Street Medicine serves. Andu is also aware of a less visible unhoused community in South King County.

Andu said people's experience of homelessness exists on a spectrum. Some live in tents, at shelters, or on the streets, and he said many people, particularly in communities of color, "double up — (living) with their aunties and uncles, especially for immigrant populations," he said.

Andu noted that data shows disparities in health care access and homelessness in South King County. He describes King County's work in the South End as two-pronged: short-term street medicine teamwork on the streets and near encampments; and a longer-term plan to provide more services and to build relationships, to reach what he calls the invisible homeless population of people doubling up with relatives.

Alejandra, who asked to only use her first name due to the sensitivity of her work, is a South End resident and outreach system coordinator for unhoused people in South King County through Evergreen Treatment Services' (ETS) Reach program. She often connects clients to PHSKC's Street Medicine Program and sometimes accompanies them to their medical appointments. She said she does whatever she can to help people, so if a day is forecast to be hot, she can transport water to people in need, and if temperatures are expected to drop, she can provide a blanket. "We don't stay in the office and wait for the clients to come," Alejandra said. "We go in the woods, go under the freeway, and find them."

She's seen Street Medicine as particularly helpful for people dealing with PTSD or mental health issues, people marginalized by the health care system, and people who've visited a hospital or clinic but were discriminated against because they experienced homelessness.

Andu, who supervises close to 40 staff members, said most people drawn to work in outreach for unhoused people are motivated by love. "You see struggle. You see pain. It does impact you as a human being," he said. Even on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, or during other holidays, he said his team remains dedicated because they care about the well-being of people who are living unhoused.

Andu said he's been dedicated to health care for vulnerable populations for more than a decade because of his parents. His family fled Eritrea during the Thirty Years' War and moved, as refugees, to Yemen, where Andu was raised. He said his house was like a community center.

"My dad was a pharmacist in Yemen, and we grew up seeing IVs all over the house because, as refugees in Yemen, my father would bring people who couldn't afford to get medical care," Andu said. "My mom and dad were showing up for our people. This is my calling."

South End Life Bulletin Board

While We're Talking About Mobile Health Care…

Here are additional free mobile medical services in our region:

International Community Health Services (ICHS) Mobile Medical Van serves South King County residents.

Care-A-Van Statewide Mobile Health Services assists people in Seattle and South King County, in addition to sites throughout the state.

Harborview/University of Washington Center for Health Sciences provides some free medical care services through its mobile health outreach program.

Does This Smell Okay to Eat?

While some hot days are behind us, it's still summer, when warmer temperatures affect food more adversely compared to the cooler Northwest months.

Here are food safety myths, including smelling food to see if it's okay to eat, as well as barbecue and picnic food safety tips from the Washington State Department of Health.

Food can be recalled for numerous reasons, including during a food-related disease outbreak, a contaminated food ingredient, or a mislabeled product. To find out more about food recalls, visit the following websites:

• Washington State Food Recalls and Safety Alerts

• National Food and Consumer Product Recalls

Win a Free Electrical Repair With South End's Tribal Electric

Boo Torres, founder of Tribal Electric, has safety in mind as you consider home electrical projects this summer. You can send a photo of your electrical repair project to Tribal Electric to see if you qualify for a free electrical repair.

Yuko Kodama is the News editor for the South Seattle Emerald. She is passionate about the critical role community media plays in our information landscape and loves stories that connect us to each other and our humanity. Her weekly "South End Life" column spotlights the stories of neighbors and community members that weave through the South End.