DETROIT, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The city of Detroit has given $562,868 to an organization that will conduct medical outreach for the homeless in what is known as “street medicine.”

The Detroit city council approved extending the contract through the end of 2025 at its Sept. 2 meeting.

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Community Health and Social Services Center, Inc., (CHASS) is the contractor providing the service. CHASS was started more than 40 years ago after several Detroit-area hospitals closed and many medical professionals left to work their suburban practices.

The $562,868 came from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money the city of Detroit was awarded.

It is estimated that the Detroit-area has about 1,725 homeless people. On Jan. 31, 2024, volunteers spread across Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park to count the number of homeless people they could track. The “point-in-time” effort is used as a measuring stick for how big a problem homelessness is around the country.