HealthRIGHT 360 Because Healthcare is a Right
Left: Shabana Seigel, VP Development, HealthRIGHT 360 Development
Right: Boy Scout Troop 11, ITAV volunteers
By: Joan Lasselle
It Takes A Village is donating 1000 face shields and 2000 fabric face masks to HealthRIGHT 360 to support their work providing free health care to those most in need. HealthRIGHT 360 supports those with nowhere else to turn for healthcare.
Even as hospitalizations statewide have soared, not all hospitals are full. Latinx and Black Californians, for example, are disproportionately likely to get sick, and even though millions of people have become unemployed, the worst of the economic crisis is hitting people who were already struggling to stay afloat. That’s why the work of HealthRIGHT 360 is so critically important. And that’s who It Takes A Village wants to support.
“Every day essential workers at HealthRIGHT 360’s medical and behavioral health clinics, and residential programs provide vital care and treatment for the community’s most vulnerable people. Eighty-five percent are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and poverty.”
Shabana Seigel, VP Development, HealthRIGHT 360 Development
HealthRIGHT 360 is a family of integrated health programs that provides integrated care and treatment to over 38,000 individuals a year through more than 70 distinct, culturally competent programs in 13 California counties. Inspired by the belief that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, all services are provided regardless of ability to pay. By providing compassionate, integrated care that includes primary medical, mental health, dental, substance use disorder treatment and re-entry services, HealthRIGHT 360 gives hope, builds health, and changes lives for people in need.
HealthRIGHT 360 traces its roots back to 1967 and the Summer of Love when Dr. David Smith, then a young physician running the alcohol and drug abuse screening unit at SF General Hospital, opened the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic (HAFC) to meet the health needs of young people flocking to San Francisco. The founding principles of the Free Clinic—free, nonjudgmental, 24-hr medical treatment for drug use and addiction remain core values at HealthRIGHT360.
Walden House was founded in 1969 in the same Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco to help homeless and runaway adolescents with substance use disorder problems. Today, Walden House treats people with mental health and substance use disorder problems at various residential and outpatient centers throughout California. Treatment centers include in-prison treatment programs as well as facilities in San Francisco and Los Angeles that provide drug and alcohol treatment, mental health, and vocational and housing services for people transitioning back into their communities. Like HAFC, Walden House has always served people who are uninsured, homeless, and socio-economically disenfranchised, including those with HIV/AIDS.
Both HAFC and Walden House are national models for community healthcare, substance use disorder treatment and mental health services. The organizations merged on July 1, 2011 to best serve the most vulnerable members of our community. On July 1, 2012, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics – Walden House adopted a new name: HealthRIGHT 360. HealthRIGHT now continues to lead the way to provide fully integrated health care and is rapidly adding to its growing family of programs.
Help us support HealthRIGHT 360 and the people it serves by donating to It Takes A Village Bay Area. Join our team by making a donation, contributing your time, or donating fabric.