Located at Cleve Gardens, St Kilda, the clinic now serves homeless people every Wednesday from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.
Street Side Medics – a not-for-profit, GP-led mobile medical service dedicated to people experiencing homelessness – officially opened its second clinic in Victoria on 7 May.
The brainchild of 2022 Young Australian of the Year, Dr Daniel Nour, Street Side Medics provides free primary healthcare to vulnerable Australians, with a no-turn-away policy, via fully equipped and customised mobile medical units, which on a weekly basis visit areas with demographically high concentrations of homeless people.
Street Side Medics opened its first Victoria-based clinic on Bourke Street late last year. With the help of funding from local partners, as well as a renewal of federal funding recently announced by the Albanese Labor Government, the charity has expanded into St Kilda, which has a sizeable homeless population of more than 1000 within the Port Phillip LGA.
In addition to the Street Side Medics team of volunteers and local supporters of the charity, Mayor for City of Port Phillip Cr Louise Crawford and a number of local councillors attended the official opening of the St Kilda clinic.
Additionally, representatives of Street Side Medics’ St Kilda clinic partner organisations, Emerald Hill Mission’s Food Van, Orange Sky Laundry and The Footpath Library, were in attendance and will continue to work in partnership with Street Side Medics at the St Kilda clinic each week.
Operating since 2020, with several clinics also in New South Wales and plans for further national expansion, all Street Side Medics clinics run in partnership with existing food services, shelters and other homelessness-focussed service providers to help alleviate the burdens faced by vulnerable communities in accessing primary healthcare.
“It’s often very difficult for those experiencing homelessness to prioritise their health or access appropriate health care. That’s why Street Side Medics works in collaboration with other service providers; it better positions us to play a part in alleviating the barriers that limit vulnerable peoples’ access to primary healthcare,” Dr Daniel Nour said.
For Dr Nour, homelessness is not just a housing issue but also a health and policy crisis. It is multi-faceted, complex and a shameful reality in almost every society, one that demands tough conversations and meaningful cross-portfolio action. He emphasised that it’s “home”-lessness, not “house”-lessness.
“Street Side Medics has proven the value of a mobile healthcare model. Mobile clinics can play a vital role by bringing care to vulnerable people who’d otherwise go without. But for long-term change, we need more than pockets of innovation. We need to scale what works, connect services and commit, as a nation, to doing better,” Nour added.
Read also: Vinnies CEOs to surpass $100M in fundraising vs homelessness
Geraldine is currently the Content Producer for Third Sector, an Akolade channel. Throughout her career, she has written for various industries and international audiences. Her love for writing extends beyond the corporate world, as she also works as a volunteer writer at her local church. Aside from writing, she is also fond of joining fun runs and watching musicals.
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