A Path Forward: Walking Beside Our Neighbors
This past month, the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Program (HOP)—led by the department’s Police Area Representatives (PAR Unit)—introduced a focused initiative called “A Path Forward.” The effort brings together local agencies to provide more hands-on, coordinated support for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Through A Path Forward, officers and community partners—including All Care Health Center, shelters, and social service agencies—dedicated full days along the river and in local encampments to help individuals take meaningful steps toward stability.
The road to stability often begins with simple but vital actions, such as scheduling a doctor’s appointment or applying for health insurance. For individuals without stable housing, those steps can feel overwhelming. During this focused outreach, All Care’s team provided on-site care and scheduled follow-up medical and behavioral health appointments. Staff members helped individuals apply for Medicaid and other benefits, ensuring that care could continue beyond the initial encounter.
All Care Health Center’s Behavioral Health Director, Amanda McCormick, PMH-ARNP, joined the outreach team onsite to help meet behavioral health needs, restart medications, and provide follow-up care in collaboration with the police and other partners.
“We were able to start behavioral health medications for several patients. Working directly with the police team was very successful since they had a coordinated idea of where to find individuals for follow-up to deliver meds,” McCormick shared. “It was such a positive experience to feel as though we were all on the same team.”
Her team also shared overdose prevention information to promote safety and trust.
“Simply letting individuals know that our goal is safety over judgment allowed them to trust our motives,” McCormick added.
Beyond immediate services, A Path Forward has created powerful moments of reconnection and care. McCormick described reuniting with a patient she had not seen in several months after he moved into a wooded area. Getting him restarted on needed medications was both a clinical and personal success—a reminder of how persistence and compassion can make a difference.
Dr. McVea, MD, All Care’s Chief Medical Officer, participated in the outreach alongside other providers and reflected on the challenges faced by individuals trying to access healthcare while living unhoused.
“One of the things that struck me was how difficult and complicated it is to seek care when you are unhoused,” she said. “I cared for a gentleman who needed a colonoscopy, but he did not have access to a bathroom or running water, or a ride to the office.”
Dr. McVea described meeting another individual who had overcome alcohol addiction but was now unable to work due to a degenerative neurological condition.
“He was well-liked, kind, and respectful—and had been waiting years for stable housing. There were resources that could help him qualify for disability and move toward a better path. During this outreach, we were able to bring multiple community resources together at once. I made an appointment for him to receive follow-up testing to clarify his diagnosis, and he rode his bike across town the next day to see one of our clinicians. I’m really hopeful we can make a difference for him.”
Dr. McVea also met a woman who had been diagnosed with cancer and was struggling to survive without treatment or supportive care.
“It was meaningful to meet her where she was living and work with other organizations to figure out how to best help her,” she said. “It was a hard life, physically, and many people we met showed evidence of past frostbite.”
Dr. Glenn Hurst, MD, also participated in the outreach efforts and shared a thoughtful reflection on his experience and the need for sustained commitment:
“I participated in the second week of services. These camps were well-established neighborhoods, not temporary shelters. My takeaway was that our actions were a good start, but if they are not followed up with regular on-site presence of healthcare, or sudden availability of long-term housing, there is little long-term benefit that can be expected for each individual.
I rode with one of the HOP officers who confirmed the same impression. I asked him if he felt this event was going to make an impact on the transition of these individuals to long-term housing, and his response was, no.
It was difficult to believe we were even making a significant impact for each person we met. There just was not enough long-term commitment to these individuals. One gentleman, who never leaves his camp and rarely leaves his tent, walked the long distance to our outpost and collapsed on the ground due to abdominal pain. He was taken by squad to the ER and released within 24 hours with a diagnosis of pneumonia. When I saw him in follow-up two days later, he was still in pain and frustrated that nothing had changed. The opportunity to truly serve this patient’s needs and establish a path to future health and wellness was lost.
Without a persistent presence in these neighborhoods and a coordinated effort to meet each individual’s needs, there will be little movement toward the goal of a housed life for all. I look forward to seeing the commitment of these team members to keep a consistent presence and to establish the trust needed to move people toward a safer life.”
While partners are already seeing positive results, the group continues to explore ways to sustain follow-up and maintain progress long after the month-long effort concludes. Local outreach advocates note that the initiative has strengthened collaboration and built new bridges between providers, officers, and community members.
All Care Health Center is proud to stand alongside the Council Bluffs Police Department’s PAR Unit and many other partners in this compassionate work. Together, we’re showing that small steps—taken side by side—can lead to lasting change.
*Last Photo Credit The Daily Nonpareil