On Wednesdays at 15th and Julian streets, social workers and staff therapists with the Harm Reduction Center help patient after patient.
According to clinical social worker and staff therapist Joe Sciarrillo, who works at the Mission location, the pop-up provides about 150 meals every week; a similar number of people drop in weekly. Between all four locations, more than 600 people visit the clinics each month –– about two-thirds of whom make return visits. Staff make contact with individuals some 5,000 times, either first-timers or folks who return time and again.
All services offered by the center are free. This includes mobile-site care, private care, and referrals to rehabilitation centers. Importantly, services are highly personalized, no one needs an appointment and there are no waitlists. The center is funded by city and county grants as well as through training events for other groups for which they charge.
“Some people want to stop by just to say hello and check in, some people want to jump into a van and close the door and talk there, and some ask for private care and meet us in other clinic spaces,” said Berg. “We’re down for any and all of it. The goal is really to build connection and trust, and over time help empower people to figure out what they want to do and then help them do it.”
Maintaining both flexibility and consistency, Berg said, is one of the most important aspects of the center’s operations. “If you want to reach vulnerable people who have a lot going on, you have to be flexible and adaptive to each person’s individual needs, while also being very stable.” The center walks this line by consistently being at the same locations every week, at the same times, with the same providers.
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