Piquette Street Clinic Shines Bright
“This is my calling.”
Many professionals serving Veterans express similar sentiments, especially those providers in VA who have found they truly love what they do. In Beth Baker, chief of the Veterans Community Resource & Referral Center (VCRRC) in Detroit, Veterans can find a trusted expert who is able to serve community Veterans of all stripes.
To outsiders the Piquette Street VA Clinic in Detroit may not appear as a community source for homeless Veterans in southeast Michigan but over the years, Piquette Street shines (is a haven) to those in the know. Homeless Veterans number in the thousands throughout Michigan, including approximately 600 Veterans without a home in Wayne County, where VA Detroit is located.
For homeless Veterans who walk into the Piquette Street VA Clinic, they can expect to be treated as a person with health issues, whether related to substance use, mental health, financial insecurity and more.
Beth’s team are experts in issues impacting homeless and near homeless Veterans and know how to get them to consider using VA health care services. The clinic offers primary and mental health care services in addition to having onsite social workers ready to assist at a moment’s notice.
VA Detroit was one of the first VA facilities in the country to be awarded a VCRRC and have led the way in sharing best practices and expanding their knowledge base of the issues facing homeless Veterans.
Veterans can usually find small amenities and toiletries while visiting Piquette Street such as socks and other comfort and hygiene items to provide some semblance of normalcy. Additionally, Veterans can find themselves with a free boxed meal (courtesy of Soldiers Angels) or utilize the onsite laundry service to ensure they may continue to wear clean clothes.
“We want to engage them with these services as a safe trusted way to ensure their health and safety,” said Ms. Baker.
Most recently, the clinic has reopened a small computer lab, allowing Veterans internet access, providing brief leisure time, and allowing them to access the modern digital world. The lab computers were set up by the Ford Volunteer Corps, employee volunteers from Ford Motor Company. The volunteers, with an IT background, helped get the computers online so Veterans can stay connected.
To any Veterans out there who may feel they have lost hope, Ms. Baker and her team are there to help Veterans “off the street that same day.” Learn more about the Piquette Street VA Clinic online at https://www.va.gov/detroit-health-care/locations/piquette-street-va-clinic/.