Atrium Launches Care Everywhere Program to Serve Homeless Population
Street teams will deliver care directly to residents where they are
Atrium Health this week announced the launch of its Care Everywhere Street Medicine Project, a new initiative that aims to deliver medical care to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness where they are across the Charlotte metro.
Through the program, physician-led teams with Atrium’s emergency department will make scheduled, recurring trips to known encampments to deliver care onsite directly to patients who face barriers to more traditional health care settings, according to a release from Atrium on Wednesday.
“This program is about showing up, consistently, in the places where people already are,” stated Dr. Cortlyn Brown, medical director of the Atrium Health Care Everywhere Street Medicine Project and associate professor of emergency medicine at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, in the release. “By removing common barriers and being a reliable presence, we are able to connect with people who might otherwise remain disconnected from the health care system.”
Challenges such as lack of transportation, limited access to identification or insurance, and past negative experiences with health care institutions often prevent people from seeking care until medical needs become urgent.
The street medicine teams will dispense medications for chronic conditions, perform point-of-care testing for conditions like urinary tract infections, provide wound care in the field and offer other services, including assistance signing up for Medicaid or Medicare to expand health care access.
Teams will also distribute items such as sunscreen, menstrual products and other everyday necessities.
The program will operate in partnership with Roof Above, a local organization that provides services to people experiencing homelessness, to help connect patients with critical community resources and longer-term support.
Roof Above operates a Day Services Center on North College Street as well as shelters on North Tryon Street and Statesville Avenue.
Read more: New Emergency Homeless Shelter Breaks Ground in North Charlotte (2020)
In addition to patient care, the program serves as a training and learning environment for clinicians and trainees, according to Wednesday’s release.
Unsheltered homelessness in Mecklenburg County
The most recent Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, held on Jan. 21, found a total of 2,018 people experiencing homelessness across sheltered and unsheltered locations in Mecklenburg County on that night, according to results released in May.
While the PIT Count captures just a moment in time, it does provide a snapshot at the need throughout the county. While this year’s count saw a slight decrease in the total unhoused population compared to January 2025 (2,101), it’s still well above the total number of people experiencing homelessness documented in 2022 (1,761).
Of the more than 2,000 people found to be experiencing homelessness on the night of the PIT Count, 499 of those were experiencing unsheltered homelessness, meaning people living in locations not intended for human habitation such as streets, cars, parks, and encampments. That’s a 12% increase compared to the 2025 PIT Count.
Of the 499 people found to be experiencing unsheltered homelessness in 2026, nearly all were single adults, 29 were unaccompanied youth, and 25 were veterans.
The unsheltered population is the community that Atrium’s Care Everywhere Street Medicine Project will target.
“At its core, this work is about dignity,” Dr. Brown said. “Every person deserves access to care and to be treated with respect, and that does not change based on where someone sleeps at night. This program lets us deliver on that commitment in a way that actually reaches people.”
