Location
First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley
2407 Dana Street at Haste Street
Berkeley, CA 94704-2207
Tuesdays, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Voicemail: (510) 848-6242 ext. 510
Background
The General Clinic is the oldest of the Suitcase Clinic’s three drop-in centers targeting the low-income and homeless populations in Berkeley, receiving up to forty clients per night on average. For over fifteen years, the General Clinic has been a safe and successful place for the homeless to receive medical and chiropractic care, to pick up hygiene supplies, to talk to a lawyer or a social worker, or just to hang out with Berkeley students.
Intake
Arrive between 6:00 – 6:30 PM if you intend to utilize services. The Clinic Coordinators will begin intake for individual services at 6:30 PM. Clients can sign up for a maximum of two services. All services except for optometry and dental are provided on a first-come, first-serviced, drop-in basis. The optometry and dental divisions use a lottery system. On a client’s fourth attempt with the optometry lottery they will automatically be given an appointment. For dental services, clients are given greater priority on their second consecutive visit.
Services Offered
Note: All services operate on a free drop-in basis.
Medical: UCSF JMP Medical Students and one Attending Physician are available weekly for medical examinations, diagnoses, prescriptions, physicals, and other services. STD/STI Testing, Mental Health, and lab testing such as blood cultures, urinalysis, etc. are not offered. The Medical Service is mostly for consults, physicals, and a limited amount of medication. Referrals to other medical clinics are offered through our Continuity of Care Advocate (CoCA) volunteers. Intake and Triage begins at 6:30PM and service is offered from 7:00-9:00PM. All medicine, even over the counter medicine, cannot be given out by the Medical Service without the client seeing the doctors. Prescriptions are not kept on file. Medical students take a patient history of the client with the caseworker present and then the medical student presents the case to the physician.
- Intake begins 6:30pm: Please take a seat by the ramp and wait to sign up with Clinic Coordinator
- Triage with Medical Student (in gym)
- Assignment to Volunteer Caseworker
Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM): OMM stands for Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. OMM is a hands-on method of treatment used to improve health and treat a wide variety of medical problems including body pain, headaches, injuries, impaired movement, the common cold and many others.
A one hour treatment session consists of a medical history, structural exam, and hands-on treatment; it is lead by two osteopathic medical students under the supervision of a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.).
They take ten clients a night–five clients at 7:00PM and five clients at 8:00PM– and spend an hour with each client. It is usually two Osteopathic Students per client- they take a patient history and then give treatment under the guidance of a physician.
Acupuncture: Our Acupuncturist requires about thirty minutes per client, and can see about six to eight clients a night. It is about ten minutes of talking to the client and evaluating him/her and at least twenty minutes of actual acupuncture. For back acupuncture, he requires a long period of time and an acupuncture bed, but if the client only wants ear acupuncture, then the client can come up without any wait.
Optometry: During the school year, Optometry students come in every week to conduct a vision screenings. After completing the screening the students write referrals for our clients to Minor Hall where they will have a full eye exam and receive glasses. These appointments are available Wednesday through Thursday of the current week, and Tuesday the following week. Usually we only have eight appointment slots every week, and Women’s Clinic and Youth Clinic each have two appointments. Vision screenings and appointments are given out by a lottery system (as long as they give their name to General Clinic Coordinator B by 6:50PM), with a few exceptions. Clients are informed that if they are not seen the first week they come in, they will have a ninety percent chance of getting in the following week if, and only if, they are present for intake that next week. Should a client not be seen for a second week in a row, we guarantee that they will be seen on the third week consecutive week. Some appointments are reserved for these priority clients who have come multiple weeks.
During the summer, however, we only have three appointments (shared between the three clinics) to give out every week, and optometry students are not available to conduct the preliminary vision screenings. General Clinic will have three appointments to give out every other week; Women’s Clinic and Youth Clinic share the three appointments on the other weeks. Since there are no optometry students, we will simply do a lottery to give out the three appointments every other week. During the summer, clients will only get eye exams from Minor Hall (no glasses). Clients will receive their prescription after their eye exam, and they will have to return to General Clinic the next week to get a referral to Sears Optical in Oakland.
For clients with a valid, unexpired prescription, they can get a referral to Sears Optical in Oakland to receive a free pair of glasses. We can give out around thirty referrals per semester. In order to give out a referral, the client must have a valid and up to date prescription on them. There are three time slots available for the Sears referral appointment for either the upcoming Thursday (two days after Tuesday’s clinic), or a week later on the following Tuesday. The times available on these days are: 3:00PM, 3:30PM, and 4PM. Clients pick out a pair of frames (from a select group) at their scheduled appointment, and they make an appointment to pick up their finished glasses at another time. Sears Optical CANNOT take frames the client has and put new lenses in there–this is actually more expensive for them. Clients have to receive glasses with the frames Sears Optical offers to them.
Also, clients can receive glasses from this program once a year–if they receive glasses from this program and lose them in the same year, they must wait until next year.
Dental: On certain Tuesday nights (about twice or three times a month), volunteer dentists and dental coordinators at the Berkeley Free Clinic are available to offer general dentistry services to clients. Intake for new clients starts at General on a first-come-first-serve basis. We do this by writing down a list of names of people who want dental service for that night. If the same clients consistently appear on our intake lists without being selected for dental service, we tend to make an effort to accommodate them. Dental service is an all-night service and generally excludes the possibility of receiving other services on the same day. The number of new clients we can serve each time is limited, depending on the number of pre-existing appointments. Usually, we can take up to three to five new clients each day that dental is offered, as there are typically three to five appointments. At 6:45PM we take the new clients and any clients who have appointments to the Berkeley Free Clinic, although clients with appointments may elect go directly to the BFC. There, new clients will receive a dental exam, have X-rays taken, and receive appropriate treatment. The Dental Coordinators stay at the BFC to assist until all the clients have been seen. Once a client receives dental service, he or she is eligible to receive appointments until all the necessary dental work is completed. There are a number of dental procedures that we do not have the resources to offer – for these, we refer clients to places in the Bay Area that do perform those services.
Legal: On the first and third Tuesdays of every month, a legal team composed of Boalt Students under the direction of an attorney from the East Bay Community Law Center volunteer at General Clinic. Clients come prepared with legal questions and relevant documents, and are accompanied by caseworkers to the law students. The law students record the details of each client’s case and reviews the details with the attorney, who directs the clients to the appropriate legal services available in the Bay Area (example: exactly who to call at EBCLC, or other legal organizations that can help). The law students and supervising attorney do not provide services in a representative capacity, but are helpful in providing resource information and referrals, often articulating the problems of the clients in a way that is most easily comprehended by legal professionals.
C.A.R.E. (Client Advocates for Resources and Employment): Every week the C.A.R.E. Coordinators receive clients with a wide variety of housing and employment-related issues. The C.A.R.E Coordinators work on the case at hand through an informal interview process, determining the client’s needs and history. We then provide referrals to other agencies, assistance with housing searches (through Eden I + R list and Craigslist), job searches (through a variety of online sources), career counseling, employment seeking advice (resume building, interview coaching, and cover letter writing), Section 8 assistance, public benefit information, and step-by-step action plans. The C.A.R.E. service takes place every week in the gym.
S.H.A.R.E. (Searching for How to Achieve Respect and Empowerment): The S.H.A.R.E. coordinators act as liaisons between the Berkeley Community, Suitcase Clinic, and our clients. We facilitate a discussion group at General Clinic, where clients and members of the community are able to come together to discuss various topics (everything from pertinent community issues such as the General Assistance cuts to current events). An important aspect of these discussion groups is to gather different perspectives from students and clients to empower the homeless community to actively create change. We also represent The Suitcase Clinic at community meetings such as the City of Berkeley Homeless Commission Board meetings and COT (Community Organizing Team–led by Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency) meetings. We take what we learn from our clients and community members to continue improving our services at clinic and to continue to be better advocates of our clients.
Laundry: The S.H.A.R.E. Coordinators take responsibility for coordinating the laundry service. Currently, the Laundry service runs every other week at the General Clinic. It is limited to 8 clients per week. The S.H.A.R.E. Coordinators are responsible for intake of clients, collection of the laundry bags, and coordination of the volunteer and/or driver. We leave First Presbyterian at 7:00PM sharp, drive the laundry to the Bing Wong Wash Center on Telegraph and Parker, wash and dry the laundry at the laundromat, and drive the laundry back to First Presbyterian by 9:00PM the same night.
Health Education: Health Education manages donations to the clinic and the distribution of hygiene supplies and clothing to clients. Clients receive a form that lists the most popular items available, on which they can indicate up to five items that they would like to receive. The maximum for any one particular item is two (or two quantities, such as with flossers or cough drops for which they receive a half dozen or so). Quantities of pain medications are seven pills, and clients may only choose one type of pain medication per week. Screening questions are asked before distribution of any medication.
Items we distribute weekly include: condoms, band-aids, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, flossers, soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cotton swabs, razors, safety pins, tampons/pads, combs/brushes, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, thread and needle, and multivitamins.
Deodorant is available on the first week of the month. Other items that we distribute less frequently or only by season include: blankets, umbrellas/ponchos, jackets, underwear.
Supplies distributed are either donated or purchased from The Dollar Tree or Costco the week prior to distribution. The statistics for each week are recorded and logged into a spreadsheet.
Health education materials are available at the table including smoking-cessation information, safe-sex pamphlets, free meal distribution locations in Alameda County charts, depression information, etc.
Health Ed also manages the needle exchange program at General Clinic–we can dispose of used needles and provide clients with clean needles and other supplies.
Footwashing: Foot Care has volunteer students provide gentle podiatric care, hand out nail clippers, lotion, anti-fungal spray, and foot powder to our clients, who often walk for hours and have limited access to showers. Footwashing is a service that we offer at clinic every week. The clients must sign up on a list, usually taken by the General Clinic Coordinators, if they wish to get their feet washed. Footwashing occurs on a first-come first-serve basis. However, if the client wishes to clean his feet by himself, he may do so. The Footwashing Coordinator assigns a volunteer to a client. (A volunteer usually goes through about three to four clients in one night of footwashing at General Clinic.) Hot water bath with soap is prepared. Two towels are used: a small towel is used for washing the client’s feet, and a big towel is used to dry their feet after. The used hot water is dumped in the toilet, dried with a towel, sprayed with bleach, and air-dried. It is only AFTER footwashing that clients are able to receive new socks. The Footwashing Coordinator is responsible for the collection of towels and used socks at the end of each night. The coordinator is also responsible for washing and drying the towels and used socks for the next footwashing session.
Haircutting: Student volunteers provide haircuts and beard trimmings for clients who often do not have access to a set of clippers or scissors. Haircutting is a service that we offer at clinic every week. The clients must sign up on a list, usually taken by the General Clinic Coordinators, if they wish to get their hair cut. Haircutting occurs on a first-come first-serve basis. The two haircutting coordinators normally perform the haircuts but if they are not available other volunteers substitute for them. Haircutters usually go through about five to six clients in one night of haircutting at general clinic. A plastic cover is used to cover the client, and, depending on the type of haircut they prefer, either electric clippers or scissors are used. After the use of any clipper, clipper attachment, scissors, or comb, it is cleaned using barbicide. The coordinator is responsible for proper maintenance and cleaning of all of the haircutting materials for use for future clients.
Computers/TV: Two computers with internet access and a printer are available for clients’ use. Clients are limited to thirty minutes per night. All computer use ends at 8:55PM. Additionally, there is a TV with an antenna and DVD player. The computers and the TV are located in the gym.
CoCA (Continuity of Care Advocate): The Continuity of Care Advocate’s (CoCA) job is to address clients’ needs that can not be met on-site at clinic by referring them to outside services and resources. CoCAs commonly refer clients to services such as free or low-cost medical, dental, legal, and optometry. Also, CoCAs help clients locate places where they can get free meals, showers, laundry, immunizations, and other services that they cannot receive at clinic.
CoCAs conduct intake at 6:30PM and ask clients what sort of referrals they need. For the duration of clinic, CoCAs will either directly work with clients at the CoCA table in the gym or run written/printed referrals (information about specific services/organizations) up to clients in a particular service. CoCAs use both their own list of resources and the internet to help clients find out-of-clinic services that they need.
Social History Intake Form
The purpose of the Social History Intake Form is simply to have a record of the clients at the General Clinic. The form gives us some basic information about them, information that is relevant to specific services, an idea of where the client is now, and where he/she used to be. If you look on the back of the form, there’s a lot a blank space. This is for you to fill in the client’s social history. If the Volunteer Coordinator gives you a new client, they will give you a blank intake form and you will go through all the questions. You don’t have to follow the form to the letter. After case working once or twice, you will remember all of the information on the social intake sheet, and the policies will be obvious. You can structure your conversation to approach the questions instead of bluntly asking “Occupation?”, “Location?” etc.
If the client has been to the General Clinic before, most of the form will already be filled in. Once the Volunteer Coordinator hands you the client’s packet—basically their social intake and other service provider forms stapled together—take a few minutes to read it over. Skim the social history. When did they last come to the General Clinic? You can use this as topics for conversation, like “I saw the last time you came in, you were interviewing for a job. How did that go?”
Caseworking Model
As a caseworker, you will start your experience at the General Clinic sitting in a circle of volunteers. A Volunteer Coordinator will approach you, and will ask if anyone will take a particular case. Chiropractic is a very popular service at clinic, so let’s say you get a Chiropractic case. All this means is that you are going to be talking to a client that has requested Chiropractic as a service. You don’t need to know anything about how chiropractics work, or ask questions about the client’s symptoms. Instead, social intake involves talking to the client as a person. You are not a service provider; you are the liaison and friend of the client.
When you meet your client, introduce yourself, let the person introduce his or herself, and then stress the Suitcase Clinic’s confidentiality policy. The confidentiality policy is “Everything that we talk about here remains within the Suitcase Clinic” or “Everything we talk about is confidential.” You can say it however you want to, but it is important to say this before you go through any of the social history because it establishes trust between you and the client. One exception to this is, if you feel the client or others are in danger (abuse), consult with a service provider or Clinic Coordinator.
Go through the social intake. At this point, I recommend putting the form either to the side or just not looking at it when you talk. With your conversation, gather information about the client. If it is a new client, you can tell them that you need to ask them a few questions about themselves, go through the basics, and then put the form aside. Don’t worry about the Medical or Chiropractic sections of the form, as they are for our professional service providers to fill out
If you see that your client needs another particular service, advocate that the client visit other services available at the General Clinic. If you gather that they need shampoo, go to the Health Education Hygiene Supply Table. If you find that they need a referral, take them to CARE or consult the Big Blue Book. If you learn that they have received citations which they believe to be unfair, see if Legal can take your client that night. You are your client’s greatest ally; so let them know what is available. If you don’t know, that’s okay. You can say, “I don’t know, but lets find out together.” It will be much more comfortable for the client if you go with them to the Health Education Hygiene Supply Table than if you tell them they can go later if they feel like it. However, if you leave the caseworking tables area, let a Volunteer or General Clinic Coordinator know, so that when the service is ready for your client, they will know where to find you.
Always accompany your client to the service. Follow the General Clinic Ramp Policy, which states that all clients must access the upper floors by way of the ramp ONLY. The Suitcase Clinic is financially liable if a client uses the stairs. When your client has received their services, you can say good night, or you can continue to talk, but before you leave, take a minute to update the social history on the back of the Social History Intake Form based on your conversation. When you are done, give the form back to a Volunteer or General Clinic Coordinator, and you are done! You can go back to the volunteer circle and wait for another case if you want, or volunteer somewhere else at the General Clinic, like at footwashing or haircutting. Make sure you stay at the General Clinic until the very end of the evening, because after closing is caseworker debriefing, an important time to share your experiences with other clinic volunteers.
Record Keeping
The General Clinic will keep a log-book, maintained by the clinic coordinators, for every clinic date. Included in this book will be:
- Any action/uncomfortable situations that were reported that night;
- A general summary of how clinic went;
- A record any “noteworthy information;”
- Clinic “warnings.”