Manna Inc. opens health clinic New services for Bangor’s homeless funded by $328,000 grant

BANGOR – Homeless people in the Bangor area will have one less thing to worry about with the opening of a new on-site health clinic at Manna Inc., a faith-based program that provides meals, child care, substance abuse treatment and other services to indigent individuals and families.

Penobscot Community Health Care, a growing health care provider headquartered on Union Street, has teamed up with Manna and two other facilities in the area to provide comprehensive services, including medical treatment, mental health care and dental care, to a population that typically has little or no access to such services.

Officials from the programs gathered at Manna’s new outer Main Street location at the former site of Beal College on Friday to show off the new clinical space and celebrate their collaboration. With a three-year, $328,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a matching amount from local charitable groups, PCHC has equipped two examination rooms at Manna and will provide full-time medical staff five days a week. People who come for meals or other services, as well as the clients of Manna’s residential substance abuse program Derek House, can drop in to have their chronic or acute medical needs addressed.

Mental health services will be available on-site several days a week, and clients who need to see a specialist or have dental care will have access to a full range of services at the Union Street clinic.

The grant also will allow PCHC to expand existing medical and mental health services at the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter on the corner of Cedar Street and Main Street as well as at the Shaw House on Columbia Street, a shelter and residential program for ages 10 through 24.

The Rev. Bob Carlson, president of PCHC, said the enhanced services will help remove barriers to care and fill a critical need. “People can usually get themselves to one of these shelters,” he said, “but they very often can’t get to one of the hospitals, or to our Union Street campus. Now we can bring the services to them.”

Family nurse practitioner Mary Jude said that on any given night, there are about 1,000 people in the area, including families with children, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness – sleeping outside, staying at a shelter or camping on a friend’s sofa. Their health suffers, in many cases, from hard living and lack of preventive care – poorly controlled diabetes, heart and lung disease, sexually transmitted diseases, untreated wounds, and a range of psychiatric and substance abuse problems.

The young clients of Shaw House have a lot to gain from expanded mental health services, according to Shaw House director Douglas Bouchard. The mid- to late-teen years is when mental illness and other psychological problems often emerge, he noted, and having qualified staff on hand is critical to treating them effectively.

“The key is getting to them early, keeping them out of the psychiatric hospitals, helping them to be happy and not homeless,” he said.

The collaborative project was one of more than 295 applicants nationwide for funding from a special program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and one of just 16 to be awarded. Local funding comes from The Bingham Program, the Maine Health Access Foundation, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, and the Betterment Fund.