Portable OutReach Care Hub (PORCH)
What happens when you take front-line health and social service staff on the road in a retro-fitted RV?
The Portable OutReach Care Hub (PORCH) happens!
PORCH provides health care and community services to those who may face barriers to accessing care, particularly those facing homelessness.
HOW?
PORCH offers a variety of services, based on the staff on the RV at each location, who may be from various partner agencies, such as Maltby Centre, Home Base Housing, KFL&A Public Health, and Queen’s Department of Psychiatry, in addition to Kingston Community Health Centres.
Some examples of these partnerships in action:
When Street Health Centre’s Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses and Outreach Workers are on board, they offer services, including:
- Testing and treatment follow-up (Hep C, STIs, etc.)
- Basic wound care
- Psychiatry
- Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAM)
- In-take and community referrals
Youth Wellness Hub Ontario (YWHO) offers:
- Youth engagement
- Primary care
- Sexual health testing and treatment
- Counselling and mental health supports
WHY?
There are many individuals in the community experiencing or at risk of homelessness, as well as those seeking wellness services or struggling with mental health and substance use. It has been challenging to engage some folks and encourage them to visit the Street Health Clinic of KCHC, although they are in great need of health-care services, and connection to additional community services.
The Street Health team identified this need and reached out to partners who had also felt the impact of these challenges to delivering care.
WHEN and WHERE?
To attain the main goal of removing barriers and improving access, PORCH:
- hits the roads for urban and rural locations, three to four days/week.
- supports folks at the Integrated Care Hub, Tiny Homes, and a number of supportive housing units for both HomeBase Housing and AMHS.
- now offers services rurally to youth in KFL&A – a Youth Wellness Hubs of Ontario initiative
PORCH urban and rural sites include:
- Integrated Care Hub, 661 Montreal St
- Seven Oakes Motel, 2331 Princess St
- OLS – Tiny Homes, Olympic Harbour
- Comprehensive Integrated Housing, 35 Lyons St
- North Addington Education Centre
- Sharbot Lake with Maltby Centre
- Napanee District Secondary School
- Sydenham High School
For more information, please contact:
- Katherine Cooper, NACHC Clinical Coordinator at 613.297.9835
PORCH Support & Partners
PORCH is funded by the Ministry of Health, United Way KFL&A and Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC). PORCH has also been generously supported by: the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area, and the Davies Foundation.
PORCH is so grateful for this funding support as it enables them to reach and support more people throughout the KFL&A region and bring on more partners to offer a wider variety of services.
Street Health Centre and United Way KFL&A collaborated with many community partners to bring PORCH to life on the road.
- Integrated Care Hub
- Tiny Homes
- Addiction and Mental Health Services – KFLA
- KFL&A Public Health
- Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario
- Homebase Housing
- Maltby Centre
- Dr. Reshetukha (Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University)
- Lakeland Family Health Team
- Frontenac Paramedic Services
PORCH in the news
The Kingston Whig Standard, July 19, 2022
The Kingstonist, July 20, 2022
Contact
Email: [email protected]
