“The Girls”
While conducting Medical Outreach for another patient, Hollis, a Behavioral Health Provider; Jessica, a Medical Case Manager; and Lacee, a Community Health Worker on our Medical Outreach Street Team, met Maude – who now lovingly refers to them as “the girls.”
At the time, Maude was living in her Jeep on the far west side of Salt Lake City, struggling but doing her best to get by. Reflecting on the moment that would change everything, she says, “The girls just walked up to me – I had never seen them before, they were like angels. Jessica told me I don’t have to live this way anymore, and when I asked her how, she told me about Fourth Street Clinic and that there was a somewhere I could go to live.”
That brief, unexpected encounter set something in motion. Determined to leave homelessness behind and move toward stability, Maude walked 10 miles to Fourth Street Clinic. She established care, never missed an appointment with her primary care or behavioral health providers, and was soon referred to the Medically Vulnerable People (MVP) facility in Sandy.
Three months later, Maude is still living at MVP and beginning to see the results of her determination. “Since being here, I’ve accomplished every goal that I set for myself. I had all my teeth pulled [by Dentacor] and I’m so excited to get dentures next month. The girls even took me to get new glasses at Walmart and helped me pick them out. It was so much fun!”
While her medical progress is significant, it’s the relationships she’s built that mean the most. “The girls saved my life,” Maude says. “I know now that I also want to be able to tell someone they ‘don’t have to live this way anymore,’ just like the girls did for me. I want to help people, too.”
Looking ahead, Maude plans to enroll in classes at Salt Lake Community College and find an apartment of her own. At the end of the interview, she leaves to get ready for a special visit with “the girls” – the same people who once approached her as strangers and are now an essential part of her journey forward.
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