One of the encampments along the river in South LA. Many of the inhabitants leave their belongings behind during the day in fear of getting citations for having tents in and along the river. || Photo by: Lucy Guanuna
Deborah has lived in and around the L.A. River in South Los Angeles for the past 15 years. She is currently living with a kidney disease in one of the many homeless encampments along the river with her Chihuahua and handful of people that call her mom .
It's early in the morning and some of the people at the encampment are just waking up. Outreach workers call her name from the top of the embankment, near the road. They've come to give her and any others living at the encampment a ride to a mobile clinic stationed in a nearby parking lot of Robert White Park in Norwalk.
I didn't trust them at first, but they kept coming. If they wouldnt have came I would have just been sitting here longer and probably died because I probably wouldve lost my other kidney. They already took one out, said Deborah.
She didnt want to talk to me when I first came around. She just looked at me all mean, but we kept coming, said Daina Villanueva, an outreach worker. I was on a mission and when the doctor was on staff that day, I knew I would bring the doctor straight to her.
When they brought the doctor, I thought, okay. I'll give them a chance because they went out of their way for me, so I guess they care. And they do. They do care, said Deborah, crying, as she held her dog with red painted nails closer. Villanueva reached out and embraced her. They're tears of joy, said Deborah.
She is now receiving medication and treatment the first and third Thursday of every month through a mobile clinic that's operated by the Homeless Health Services program at St. John's Well Child and Family Center, a community health center based in Los Angeles. I now have a social security card, birth certificate and an ID. I havent had that in years, said Deborah.
For two years, St. Johns' team of outreach workers, medical staff and caseworkers have been using the mobile clinic to reduce financial, geographic, and psychological barriers that prevent the homeless population from getting medical care. It has been designated to bring primary health services to areas frequented by homeless and housing insecure individuals and families.
Inside the mobile clinic. || Photo by: Lucy Guanuna
The mobile clinic program rolled out in 2014, after St. John's received a federal homeless services grant through HRSA to convert the 40- foot school bus and an additional $650,000 in federal funding per year for operating costs.
If youre really serious about serving the homeless population, they can't be expected to travel significant distances with all of their belongings in a shopping cart to a clinic, you really got to take services to them and thats what we do, said St John's CEO, Jim Mangia.
The mobile clinic frequented homeless shelters and religious organizations, but more recently has needed to go into more obscure areas throughout Los Angeles to serve homeless patients following the passing of an ordinance by the Los Angeles City Council in 2015, that made it easier for officers to confiscate homeless people's property and dismantle their tents, said Mangia.
Outreach worker, Ashley McKay, with Our Place Housing Solutions dispensing hygiene kits at an encampment along the river in South LA. || Photo by: Lucy Guanuna
In March, the city was sued by homeless advocates and homeless individuals who accused the city of seizing their belongings without due process or sufficient notice. The defendants' tents, bedding, documents and medication were never returned and although an injunction was issued a month later that prevents police from seizing property without notice, it is limited to areas in and around Skid Row.
After the ordinance was passed, many of our homeless individuals and families went deeper underground and we had a significant drop in patients accessing services as they became more fearful of being picked up and having their belongings taken by the LAPD, said Mangia. We had to innovate and find them where they were. More and more of our homeless patients were hiding under freeways and in the L.A. River.
The mobile clinic offers comprehensive primary care, dental and behavioral health care, and counseling services, in addition to screenings for chronic diseases, sexually transmitted infections and substance abuse.
Many health conditions affecting the homeless are a result of poverty and lack of a stable home. Hypertension, high cholesterol and mental health issues like depression and anxiety are all impacted by being homeless and by substance abuse and alcohol, said Mangia.
Many come into the clinic with foot problems from walking a lot, said Jessenia Garcia, homeless and public housing coordinator at St. John's. They are constantly on the move.
--
--
They also do Well -Woman Exams that includes PAP Smears and other tests related to women's reproductive health. We have a lot of sex workers and we offer them female condoms to take their health into their own hands. We have to build trust because they are usually apprehensive to admit they are sex workers, but once trust is built they can admit it and the clinic can better serve them, said Garcia.
The mobile clinic offers three free visits to uninsured patients, but caseworkers at the mobile clinic enroll all eligible patients in public health programs. Most of which are eligible, said Garcia. Most homeless U.S. citizens are eligible for Medi Cal and those that are undocumented are eligible for the county indigent program, My Health LA.
St Johns' mobile clinic is making an effort to decentralize homeless services at a time when most shelters and services throughout the
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
One of the encampments along the river in South LA. Many of the inhabitants leave their belongings behind during the day in fear of getting citations for having tents in and along the river. || Photo by: Lucy Guanuna 
