The Espiritu De Salud Mobile Clinic provides free holistic health and social services to the indigent and/or homeless youth of Houston, Texas, including... 

 

Medical Services General health assessments Diagnosis & treatment of minor acute illnesses Immunizations Family planning & health educations services Treatment of sexually transmitted diseases HIV Testing   Behavior Health Services Psychiatric treatment Mental health counseling Medication management Social service referrals   Case Management (specific to homeless youth)  Life skills training Gold Card application assistance Homeless Voicemail assistance Shelter and housing assistance Social service referrals   Outreach Pastoral care Street outreach Reach Out and Read program (ages 5 and under)

2006 Program Higlights 3564 youth served (unduplicated clients) 5873 medical visits 753 counseling &/or psychiatric sessions 1107 case management sessions 1110 lab services rendered 3034 medicines prescribed 2800+ volunteer hours donated 5380 immunizations

Value vs. Cost 2006 Clinical Operating Costs:..............................................$474,159 It costs CHM $133.04 to provide regular health & related care for 1 youth for a year 2006 Value of Services Provided:.........................................$723,764 It would cost you $203.07 to provide that same care 2007 Comprehensive Program Budget:................................$629,770

The History of the Espiritu De Salud Mobile Clinic 

Christ Church Cathedral began its downtown ministry in 1839 and since has been committed to Houston’s social problems. In response to the lack of affordable and available health services to typically marginalized populations, the Cathedral expanded its ministries into the health arena. By purchasing a fully equipped 40-foot mobile medical clinic (1998), the Cathedral made evident its strong commitment to this new ministry.  Originally named the Youth Outreach Mobile Clinic, the target population for this ministry was homeless youth, who to this day tend to congregate in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood.

From the onset, community collaborations were identified as key for the mobile clinic in providing the best possible health services for these young people, and one of the most essential continues to be with Rusk School Health Promotion Project (“Rusk”), the lead and primary contract provider of the mobile clinic’s medical services.

As health outreach expanded over time, it became clear that formal oversight of this ministry was needed. Thus, on October 1, 2002, CATHEDRAL HEALTH MINISTRIES , a Texas non-profit organization, was incorporated. At the same time, the mobile clinic was newly christened as ESPRITU DE SALUD [translation: “Spirit of Health”] Mobile Clinic.

Over time this program has grown to serve the health needs of not only the homeless youth in Montrose on two evenings each week, but also those of children from low-income, primarily Hispanic families in the East End during school hours each weekday and on one evening each week.

The clinic participates in special programs (e.g.: immunization drives, Christmas at the Cathedral, etc.) and is also part of the City’s Emergency Response Team, most recently taking part in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. 

Cathedral Health Ministries shares the vision of the Cathedral that any health services provided will be free of cost to the patient / client.

For more information on the Espiritu De Salud Mobile Clinic view the Mobile Clinic Fact Sheet.