The Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services has declared a winter shelter warning for Friday, January 17, 2025 at 4 pm until Thursday, January 23 at 9 am. Call 211 (available 24/7) or 443-984-9540 to connect with shelter. Get more info here.
Our REI Journey
Health Care for the Homeless promised you, our community, to pursue racial equity and inclusion in all we do—from clinical care to culture and operations. This is not the work of a month or a year, but rather a reorientation that will make us a better, more effective organization and further our mission to end homelessness.
Below are some of the changes and commitments we have made so far.
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020
2023
Key Activities
- Conducted first Pay Equity study through Nonprofit HR, a Black-owned, woman-owned firm.
- Introduced “Day in the Life” quarterly newsletter series focused on staff perspectives on the ground
- Introduced Patient Portal and live chat feature (273 clients enrolled in first 6 months)
- Partnered with Franklin Square Family Medicine Residency Program to offer exposure to shelter-based medical care
- Partnered with Baltimore Corps to provide additional support for pediatric/OB and Sojourner Place at Oliver clients
- Launched on-site OB program at Fallsway in partnership with Mercy Medical, with 140 pregnant people serve
- Added client leader to New Hire Orientation
- Workgroup to study bias in social work licensure
- Established HCH Real Estate Co, a housing subsidiary to build affordable housing in Baltimore with a specific focus on individuals and families exiting homelessness
- 40 internal and external REI Sessions, Trainings & Conferences attended by staff
News Highlights
- Overcoming Barriers to Prenatal Care
- We are a Mirror of Love
- Who Benefits from Storytelling?
- Want Change? Be an Advocate!
- 2023 Legislative Session
2022
Key Activities
- Creation of Affinity Groups guiding framework and implementation structure
- Formation of three formal affinity groups
- Roll out of Annual REI Action Plan Report
- Launched Heritage Month and Days of Significance Commemoration campaign
- Quarterly REI Training and Technical Assistance with Department leads
- The creation of REI Departmental Goals and KPIs dashboard
- Manager completion of Departmental REI dashboard
- REI Staff-led training and trainer sessions
- Health in Every Size
- Health Equity Sessions
- Supervisor-lead training sessions
- Storytelling and Racial Equity, Advancement
- Behavioral Health Training Session with Shawna Murray Browne, LCSW-C
- All-Staff In-Service REI training with Nikki Akparewa, RN, MPH, MSN
- Population Health/ Performance Improvement Health Disparities Dashboard
- Launch of real-time client survey mechanism
- 2022-2025 Strategic Plan design and implementation
- Roll out of Pay Transparency
News Highlights
- Making Racial Equity and Inclusion a reality
- Training the next generation
- It matters how you slice it
- We all deserve care: a Q&A with CASA
2021
Key Activities
- Development of the agency REI Action Plan
- Presentation of agency REI assessment
- Launched REI Staff Committee
- Launched Board REI Sub-Committee
- Hired REI specific staff
- Management Team REI training
- Established REI Guiding Principles
News Highlights
- If we don’t talk about race, why are we here?
- Racial equity and inclusion should be the foundation: Liberation is the true goal
2020
Key Activities
- Agency REI assessment by the Center for Urban and Racial Equity (CURE)
- Implementation of Community of Practice on Homelessness
News Highlights
- Ending Homelessness Requires Becoming Anti-Racist
- Let's Build a Beloved Community
- In Solidarity and with Resolve
