Point-in-time counts coordinated by the California Department of Housing and Community Development consistently estimate more than 180,000 people experiencing homelessness across the state on a single night — the largest unhoused population of any state in the country.
Most of them have Medi-Cal coverage, at least nominally. Almost none of them are reliably reached by clinic-based care. Appointments, paperwork, and stable transportation simply do not fit the reality of life on the street.
Street medicine exists to close that gap — by bringing the clinic to the person, on their terms.