Epstein Street Medicine Program

Project HOME’s Epstein Street Medicine program provides point-of-contact medical care to individuals experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia, with a focus on those living outside.

Through holistic, person-centered, trauma-informed care delivered through a harm-reduction lens, the team aims to improve medical outcomes and enhance access to healthcare and support services. The Street Medicine team partners with Project HOME’s Street Outreach Team and provides medical services and establishes trusts with individuals experiencing homelessness where they live.

A Focus on Primary Care

In addition to first-aid services and urgent clinical concerns and injuries, the Street Medicine team focuses on providing primary care and preventive health services, including diagnosis and treatment of issues including:

• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Asthma
• Hepatitis C
• HIV
• Women’s health and contraception
• Complex chronic wound management

Many individuals experiencing homelessness live with a “tri-morbidity” consisting of psychiatric disorders, substance abuse disorders, and chronic medical conditions. The team engages and empowers rough sleepers to be active participants in their health care and assists them in navigating healthcare systems in Philadelphia if specialty or emergency care becomes necessary. 

Fostering Trust and Ongoing Care

The team also works to engage participants who have received limited healthcare in the past or have had negative healthcare provider experiences in the past. By breaking down traditional barriers to access and reducing paternalistic approaches to care, the team works to foster greater trust in the healthcare system and put rough sleepers on a path toward improved long-term health and connect them with resources related to housing, shelters, and safe havens.

Care Where and When it’s Needed

With a deep understanding of the population experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia, the Epstein Street Medicine team travels with the Street Outreach Team across the city, with a current focus on individuals in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

The team consists of three Nurse Practitioners and a Registered Nurse backed with plans to expand mental and behavioral health support with a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. This team is supported by Project HOME’s larger Healthcare Services team.

Project HOME’s Street Medicine Team is committed to partnering with organizations and healthcare providers in Philadelphia and beyond to improve the way individuals experiencing homelessness access care. To learn more or discuss collaborative opportunities, contact Program Director Kara Cohen at [email protected].

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Project HOME's Healthcare Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and we are able to provide our services regardless of a person’s ability to pay for the services. In cases where an individual lacks health insurance, we offer a discounted sliding fee program.

Project HOME receives HHS funding and has Federal Public Health Service (PHS) deemed status with respect to certain health or health-related claims including medical malpractice claims for itself and its covered individuals.