Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1526586
10 | Health Matters: Providence Humboldt County Housing Is Health Mother Bernard House provides safe, affordable housing for our community's most vulnerable. W hen we consider the role of health care in our community, homelessness is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. However, in 2017 this began to change. "Every three years we conduct a community health needs assessment and come up with a plan showing how we are going to respond to the needs in our community," explains Martha Shanahan, director of community health for Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka. That year, for the very first time, housing showed up on the assessment as a priority need. Many in the area may not realize that Humboldt County has the third-highest per capita rate of homelessness in California. The hospital immediately went to work, setting up meetings between service providers, health care leaders and elected officials, all centered on the issue of housing instability and homelessness. It was during those sessions that we learned about the Providence Supportive Housing division, based in Seattle and run by Executive Director Tim Zaricznyj. An immediate partnership was formed. While the hospital did not have the expertise needed to develop, build and operate an affordable housing project, the Supportive Housing division lacked the local knowledge and relationships necessary to move forward. Zaricznyj says, "There is no way we would have been successful in developing this project without the support of the St. Joseph Hospital team and especially the local leadership on the ground. It really did take a village, all rowing in the same direction." COVID HITS DURING PLANNING By 2019, all parties involved were clear on what was needed, but soon after, COVID-19 struck. It was at this time that the federal government issued the CARES Act, a massive COVID relief program that distributed money to the states. The State of California made a portion of those funds available for the acquisition of existing motels to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness who required a quarantine or isolation resource. "We were able to use these dollars to purchase what was then called the Humboldt Inn," says Zaricznyj. The hospital's CARE Network team mobilized to move people in and began delivering services such as helping to pay rent and bills, making and keeping medical appointments and coordinating with other care providers in the community. This became the seed for what is today the Mother Bernard House. The facility is named for Mother Bernard, the foundress of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. She started her Eureka ministry in 1912 with seven companion Sisters and in 1920 opened St. Joseph Hospital. The Supportive Housing project eventually became a silver lining of COVID. While initially the inn was used as a response to the COMMUNITY HEALTH