A year ago, Gainesville’s homeless community living in “tent city” awoke to find five-hour eviction notices pinned to their tents, shopping carts and backpacks.
The notices came as part of the city’s efforts to clear out the southeastern homeless community. A 2024 Florida law simultaneously prohibited counties and municipalities from allowing camping on public property, with the exception of property established for that purpose under state approval.
While access to shelter is a leading issue for homeless individuals, access to healthcare remains a lesser understood yet progressively persistent issue.
Among Alachua County’s estimated 639 homeless persons, 95% of those surveyed by the Alachua County Department of Health reported difficulty in accessing healthcare services in 2024. These services can range from simple physical exams to cardiology procedures.
Despite the lack of medical resources for the homeless community, Alachua County-based organizations are stepping in to make a difference.
Access in reach
UF HealthStreet strives to reduce disparities in healthcare access through research. The program provides health assessments, which often uncover underlying health issues that may otherwise go unnoticed; semi-monthly ophthalmology services, which can help provide vision care; and Narcan distribution and training, which aims to prevent fatal overdoses among the homeless — a community exceptionally vulnerable to drug addiction. All of these services are available on-site at the 2401 SW Archer Road clinic.
Other on-site services include a food pantry, a clothing closet, the provision of medical referrals and 24-hour bus passes.
Vernita Canteen, a Gainesville resident of 33 years, said she relies on UF HealthStreet for a variety of her needs. Canteen has experienced homelessness off and on, and said she struggles to travel to essential places like grocery or clothing stores.
“I need to find a dentist, they help me find a dentist. And a lot of other things — glasses, everything,” she said. “Groceries, clothes if you need clothes, toiletry stuff if you need it.”
According to HealthStreet operations director Robert Baez, the organization's mission lies in “addressing those social determinants of health and making it easier to access [healthcare].”
One of the largest health concerns facing Gainesville’s homeless population, Baez said, is a basic one: access to simple necessities like food.
“Being able to provide [food] to people has been very energizing,” Baez said. “A lot of people are coming to HealthStreet for the resources that we offer, and then at the same time [we] are able to link them with research with the referrals they may be looking for.”
Despite the efforts HealthStreet has made to support the homeless population and other Alachua County groups, limitations still prevent a full range of medical services to the community.
For one, Baez said receiving adequate funding and resources is always a struggle, with toiletries, clothing and other necessities often going quickly out of stock. And while the clinic does provide some direct medical support and examinations, follow-up treatments often require referrals and self-motivation on the client’s part.
“It’s up to the person to actually follow through with the referral, schedule appointments and so forth,” Baez said.
Additionally, more complex health needs, like cancer treatment, may be beyond the organization’s scope, leaving homeless individuals to their own devices without monetary support or insurance providers’ backing.
Established support
Grace Healthcare Service Corp., established in 2016 on the GRACE Marketplace campus, provides Alachua County residents with healthcare access through its facilities’ clinics and free pharmacy.
Grace Healthcare executive director Lorry Davis said Grace Pharmacy has a unique position as the only free pharmacy in Alachua County.
”It’s why Grace Healthcare Services was formed,” Davis said, “because there are a number of free clinics around town that folks would get their prescriptions and have no way to pay for them.”
Grace Pharmacy purchases some of its medications and also relies on donations to provide free prescriptions. However, medication donations usually come in the form of excess supply from other pharmacies and, consequently, can be inconsistent.
As of August, Grace Pharmacy’s formulary list included many important yet supply-limited medications. Medicines like the blood pressure medication amlodipine and the antidepressant escitalopram are available, but supplies are often only enough to last an individual a month. Though the pharmacy can acquire additional supply, the August list indicates the scarcity of resources with which the pharmacy has to cope.
In addition to prescription medications, the pharmacy also accepts donations for free over-the-counter health supplies like sunscreen, shampoo and toothpaste.
Meanwhile, the clinics Grace Healthcare hosts in its facilities cover an array of medical services. Davis described the Grace Clinic as a “guerilla clinic,” due to the shifting nature of services provided on different days and the variability of services offered depending on resource availability.
The clinic’s weekly schedule includes services like vaccination, wound treatment and psychiatric counseling.
Common issues homeless and impoverished individuals face include high blood pressure, hypertension, respiratory issues and diabetes, which Davis said Grace Healthcare assists with. For the female patients visiting Grace Healthcare, sexual assault is another ongoing and virulent issue, with over 90% of female clientele — a majority of whom are homeless — reporting some form of sexual harrassment or assault.
“The statistics, when you get down to them, are pretty staggering about the situation for homeless women,” Davis said.
Barriers and obstacles
Navigating the complex medical system can pose serious challenges to individuals who may lack resources such as phones, according to Baez. Given those barriers, other organizations strive to provide individuals with guidance through the often maze-like social services system.
The city-funded Gainesville Fire Rescue’s Community Resource Paramedicine Program combines guidance with basic medical services.
Maddi Weech, the EMT overseeing the homelessness outreach and prevention section of the CRP program, said it seeks out those who are medically vulnerable or have complex medical situations and tries to connect them with resources, often visiting places like tented homeless communities.
Weech emphasized the need for greater empathy towards homeless individuals.
“None of us are that far off from being unhoused,” she said. “We’re all just like one missed paycheck, one bad thing away from facing a similar situation.”
Once connecting with an individual, Weech said the CRP team may offer on-site first aid, perform an examination and provide a medical referral or create a plan for obtaining further medical care. Responders like Weech will often visit homeless individuals once they’ve been hospitalized in order to advocate for them.
Krista Ott, the CRP program coordinator, said the program aims to connect with frequent 911 callers and high-need individuals on-site.
“Our program often tries to be able to be involved with the individual before they get discharged,” Ott said, “so that we can make sure they have wraparound services and support once they get discharged.”
That support includes ensuring individuals know when their follow-up appointments are, teaching them to advocate for themselves and helping educate them about available resources, Ott added. Other services include connecting individuals with medical goods like wheelchairs and walkers, explaining the purpose and methods of taking certain medications and establishing relationships with individuals so they feel comfortable calling on the fire rescue for support. Though limitations exist to the extent organizations can provide healthcare access, homeless and impoverished Gainesville residents still expressed deep appreciation for the services they can receive.
Jerry Baker, who is homeless, said HealthStreet was the best clinic in Gainesville and helped connect him with other services such as the Acorn Clinic for free dental services.
Overall, Baker said clinics and pantries have been essential to his survival.
“I’m glad they got places like this,” he said. “Because if there wasn’t, I wouldn’t eat or have clothes.”
Contact Avery Parker at aparker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @AveryParke98398.
