Community Care in Reach®

Community Care in Reach®, previously known as CareZONE, is an innovative mobile health initiative that brings together partners in preventive care, addiction services, and harm reduction to serve individuals not well-connected to health care, experiencing homelessness and/or living with addiction.

Using an innovative partnership model, Community Care in Reach combats the opioid epidemic with accessible, on-demand care. In Boston, experienced staff from Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and the Boston Public Health Commission’s AHOPE program provide a range of services on the van and connect patients to community health centers, treatment programs, or specialty care.

  • Addiction Services: Medications for addiction treatment and referrals to opioid treatment programs & in-patient detox
  • Harm Reduction: Naloxone, overdose prevention education, risk reduction counseling, and syringe exchange
  • Preventive Care: Screenings, immunizations, chronic disease management (including hypertension, diabetes, HIV treatment), and referrals to behavioral health, hepatitis C treatment, specialty medical care, and other services based on patient needs and preferences.

To learn more about the program, please watch the video below.

This innovative program was originally launched in Boston in January 2018. In 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health granted funding to four mobile addiction service sites across the Commonwealth, including the original Boston program and two additional Community Care in Reach affiliates. The expansion of the program was also made possible by the generous donation of two mobile units by the Robert K. Kraft Family to the new sites in Worcester and Western Massachusetts as well as ongoing support from our partners at The GE Foundation. A list of each Community Care in Reach site and the program partners.

Program Site Launch Date Program Partners
Boston January 2018 Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
AHOPE – Boston Public Health Commission
The GE Foundation
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Ford Motor Company
The Hearst Foundation
Brockton April 2021 Brockton Neighborhood Health Center
HEALing Communities Study
Western MA (Springfield, Holyoke, Northampton, Greenfield, Chicopee) Summer 2022 Tapestry
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
The GE Foundation
Worcester Summer 2022 UMass Memorial Medical Center
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
The GE Foundation
Lowell Summer 2024 Lowell Community Health Center
Massachusetts Department of Public Health

In April 2021, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center officially launched their Community Care in Reach mobile program supported by generous donation of a state-of-the-art mobile medical unit from The Robert K. Kraft Family. Initial operations costs for the Brockton program were funded through the HEALing Communities Study. See a video of the program launch below.

In September 2022, UMass Memorial Medical Center also launched their Community Care in Reach mobile unit, once again supported by the generosity of The Robert K. Kraft Family. The UMass mobile team’s efforts are supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. See a video of their ribbon cutting ceremony below.

For more information on Community Care in Reach, please visit our Contact Us page.

The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Institute for Research, Quality & Policy in Homeless Health Care completed an evaluation of the 10-month pilot program in Boston. To read their full report, click here.

Publications

Community Care in Reach® In the Media

Mobile Addiction Services Toolkit

The Kraft Center has developed a Mobile Addiction Services Toolkit which provides a comprehensive overview of how to launch an operate a mobile addiction program following our Community Care in Reach® model. Included are sample protocols, best practices, and lessons learned over the course of our experiences with our own mobile health program. To access the toolkit, please click here.