Big Isle clinic cares for those on the streets

Since 2023, the Street Medicine Outreach program offered by federally qualified health center, Hawaiʻi Island Community Health Center, has connected health care and social services directly to people experiencing homelessness in Zip codes across the island. Though, outreach to rural communities began several years before.

“It’s new and not new,” Nate Hakeem, HICHC street medicine patient navigator, told Aloha State Daily. “The clinic started doing street medicine back in 2016-2017, I want to say, and us in the clinic would go out together with partners like Hope Services [Hawaiʻi] once a month in Hilo and Kona. … It created a warm, open door for the clinic and our patients, majority of which were on Medicaid. It became its own full-time program in September 2023, where we hired on a director and staff and shifted to doing it almost every day of the week."

Hakeem worked in HICHC’s behavioral health department for five years before joining the Street Medicine Outreach team. He has more than 25 years of experience working with homeless individual, of which the majority has been spent in shelters on the Big Island.

“I’m not a Registered Nurse or licensed social worker, but I have been working directly with the houseless since 2008,” he said. “I love working with people. I am very empathetic and compassionate. I grew up with a parent who struggled with addiction, was on and off the streets, before she passed away in 2008 from her addiction. Three days later, I got laid off my job, and the first job I was offered was at a overnight shelter.

“My first response was, ‘No, thank you. There’s no way!’ I started reading through [my mother's] journals – she was a beautiful woman who processed her own healing journey – and so, I took it on as a personal challenge to practically work through my own healing. ... Basically, everyone has a story, so I try to understand where people come from and treat them like humans.”

HICHC’s mobile health clinic brings health care services to the streets, shelters and other locations, offering health assessments, including wound care and injury, vaccinations and mental health support via patient navigators, case managers and nurses, among other health care providers.

“We carry medical supplies, water and hygiene kits. We help them enroll in their insurance and understand benefits, or help with EBT/food stamps and getting an I.D.,” Nakeem said. “One of our main visions here at the clinic is treating anybody regardless of their ability to pay and helping them get the care they need. Ultimately, getting them off the streets is the goal.

He noted one of the biggest challenges is finding long-term housing solutions. Partnering with Hope Services has helped on that front, he said. “We’re always open to growing our partnerships. We’ve recently done community events with churches and nonprofits like Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, Project Vision [Hawai'i] and Neighborhood Place of Puna, to name a few.”

When Street Medicine Outreach launched, he noted that HICHC received grant money from Hawaiʻi County for the mobile health vehicle itself, medications and staff. UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Hawai‘i also stepped up to help back the program.

"Ongoing funding is a challenge. We do rely heavily on community partnerships and grants," Hakeem said. "We’re very thankful for UHC’s grant because it allowed us to purchase things we needed, like laptops in the mobile unit, and just sustain the program overall.

“UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Hawaiʻi remains committed to assisting programs such as the Street Medicine Outreach Program through our community collaborations,” said Kalani Redmayne, CEO for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Hawaiʻi, in an emailed statement to ASD. “Mahalo to Hawai‘i Island Community Health Center for providing much-needed mobile health care to the unhoused population and in helping to heal our community.” 

Hakeem added, “I’m very proud of this program. It’s been a pleasure to be apart of from the beginning and see where we’re growing. I really do enjoy the work. We have an amazing team who is fun to work with, and they do great work in the communities we serve. The clinic has continued to support us over the years. It’s truly been a blessing to develop these relationships and help local people in need."

CONTACT
West Side Administrative Office
Waikoloa, Kealakehe, Kailua-Kona, and Kealakekua
75-5751 Kuakini Highway, Suite 203,
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
808-326-5629

East Side Administrative Office
Hilo, Keaʻau, Kaʻū, and Pāhoa
450 Kilauea Ave., Suite 105,
Hilo, HI 96720
808-333-3600

For more information about the Street Outreach Program, click here.

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Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.