Rebuilding a Safe Haven for Future Crises

Our proyect La Movil has been providing mobile comprehensive mental and physical health services to the most vulnerable populations in the communities we served in the eastern side of Puerto Rico: people who use drugs and homeless individuals along with the community at large. In the las year and half, the mobile unit carried out at least 31 community events were they provided vaccinations, health prevention services, distribution of food, and participated in the carrying out of the national homeless individual local survey. It carried out 25 community/organizational training events on overdose prevention, HIV, and access to treatment and Medication First Model.  La Movil carried out 644 HIV tests and open clinical files for 263 participants.

Along with providing essential physical and mental health services, the proyect implemented a program to integrate Clinical Social Work and Psychology interns as part of our team creating a pipeline for future clinical professionals to understand harm reduction practices and model.  We instituted a program to provide psychological services, case management and medical attention for open wounds, one of the most common problems identified among the population we served.  In the process of doing this work, we developed a plan for creating a Mental and Health Clinic with a Harm Reduction Model that meets drugs users and homeless individuals where are at in the lives, and does not expect them to stop using sustances in order to provide them with life saving and quality of life services.

With la Movil we served a total of 117 new participants.  56% of the population we served at la Movil were drug users of cocaine and heroine and at least 75% had a mental health diagnosis.  We your continued support, will be able to expand our reach and increased the number of people we are able to provide services to with dignity and without enduring stigma for their conditions.

Thank you for your continued support!

We are happy to share wiith you some great news! We have recently been approved by local health authorities as as out-patient drug use treatment service provider.  This has been years in the making.  The local government agencies are highly bureaucratic and not generally atuned to harm reduction practices.  So it has taken us a lot effort and time invested in procuring the designation and permits as drug treatment service providers.  This in addition to already providing harm reduction and HIV prevention services, drug overdose training and wound care by a doctor at our mobile clinic.  We are awaiting approval of our application to be able to provide buprenorphine as part of drug treatment with medication substitution. 

We are also excited because in the past months and thanks to a new grant, we have been able to reach younger populations providing harm reduction information and HIV prevention in highly impoverished neighborhoods. This is the first time we focus on this population and it has been very well received by the communities.

Always thank you for your support.  We look forward to continuing to have you on our side!

Together we are changing the world!

Links:

• http://www.intercambiospr.org