The Roxbury section of Boston is home to a new effort to increase mental health and substance use screenings. The Whittier Street Health Center now routinely offers screenings in four mobile vans that make the rounds of a network of churches, schools and public housing developments.
“Mental health and substance use disorder are debilitating issues,” said Frederica M. Williams, the center’s chief executive officer.
Services include screening and referrals to mental health counselors at Whittier Street Health Center. If a patient is suicidal or otherwise in a dangerous situation, the center can get help from the Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST), which provides crisis intervention, Williams said. “If somebody is in crisis, we don’t want to call the police on them,” she said.
Whittier Street opened in 1933 as a well-baby clinic, getting its first mobile clinic, which focused mainly on testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, in 2018. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the center added vaccination services in 2021, and is now up to four mobile units.
In another significant outreach program, Whittier Street had been sending staff to offer services at a homeless encampment about a mile away from the center. In November 2022, it opened a trailer next to its main building that serves as an engagement center for the homeless. Patients can work with a case worker on finding employment and stable housing in addition to primary health care, Williams said. “This is a place where all people feel welcome.”