Pregnant and Addicted: Homeless Women See Hope in Street Medicine

October 18, 2023

(KFF Health News) – Crespo, 39, is among a growing number of homeless pregnant women in California whose lives have been overrun by hard drug use, a deadly coping mechanism many use to endure trauma and mental illness. They are a largely unseen population who, in battling addiction, have lost children — whether to death or local child welfare authorities.

She and other women are now receiving care from specialized street medicine teams fanning across California to treat homeless people wherever they are — whether in squalid encampments, makeshift shantytowns clustered along rivers, or vehicles they stealthily maneuver from one neighborhood to another in search of a safe place to park. (Read More)