Street Medicine Outreach

What the outreach teams actually do

Trained team members take basic first aid into homeless camps, under bridges, and to the places people are actually sleeping. This is interceptive aid: catching the wound, the infection, the untreated foot problem or the dangerous blood-sugar swing while it is still small.

• Wound care and dressing changes
• Basic assessment and vital signs
• Recognizing what needs escalation, and arranging it
• Supplies: hygiene items, socks, water, weather protection
• Connection to housing, food, showers and laundry through Valor Villages
• A route into ongoing medical care for people who want one

Why the wording matters

Plenty of organizations describe outreach like this as a “mobile clinic” or “mobile pain care.” Ours is not, and calling it one would be a lie that gets someone hurt. A person who needs a physician needs a physician; the outreach team’s job is to recognize that and get them there, not to pretend the encounter was equivalent.

This is one of the five things we said we would not bend on. See our values.

Where the teams go

Across the St. Louis region, following the routes established by Valor Villages’ outreach work. Locations are not published, because publishing where unhoused people sleep puts them at risk.