Long Beach : $5,000 Grant to Provide Clinic for Homeless

Christian Outreach Appeal, a Long Beach organization that provides food for homeless people, has received a $5,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Foundation in Bellflower to construct a medical clinic at its facility on 3rd Street.

According to COA officials, the money will provide for the transformation of a former church nursery into a fully operational primary health care medical clinic. Specifically, they said, it will pay for the remodeling of a small room, addition of a sink and the purchase of sterilizing trays and basic medical equipment.

“This award will now offer a bridge . . . for homeless and low-income people in our community,” said JoAnn Yazzie, director of the Christian organization’s job referral and counseling center. “(That) population . . . has been deprived of health care services for a long time due to lack of easy access to the facilities.”

The new clinic, COA officials said, will be staffed by volunteer nurses and other health care professionals who will provide medical services on a regularly scheduled basis.