United Health Foundation Helps Provide Respite Care for Adults and Children Who are Homeless in Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona, is struggling with an increasing population of individuals challenged to find permanent housing. On any given night, more than 5,500 people are living on the streets in Maricopa County.  But one local organization is working hard to deliver health care and compassionately connect homeless people with the help they need, when they need it.

Circle the City, an Arizona nonprofit community health organization, is dedicated to providing high- quality, holistic health care to men, women and children facing homelessness in Maricopa County. The organization's homeless continuum of care is one-of-a-kind in the state and one of the only models of its kind in the nation. Patients benefit from various care models offered by the organization, including primary care services, integrative outpatient behavioral health and substance abuse services, mobile health outreach services, or medical respite services in one of Circle the City's flagship respite care centers.

Recently, the United Health Foundation awarded Circle the City a $1 million partnership grant to help the organization provide health care services in a new Medical Respite Center for the homeless at the Maricopa Human Services Campus. The expanded physical care, mental health and social services at the new location will enable Circle the City to continue to support patients in successful transitions from inpatient to outpatient settings, and implement key processes and analytics to triage frequent utilizers to appropriate levels of intervention.

"Our mission is to compassionately address the health care needs of men, women and children facing homelessness," said Brandon Clark, CEO of Circle the City. "Medical respite care is a national best practice in achieving this mission of holistic care for the most vulnerable in our community. We are grateful for the generosity of United Health Foundation to help us expand this innovative model."

Over the next three years, this partnership will continue to help build a healthier Arizona, one person at a time.