HOMELESS & MENTAL HEALTH CHAMPION

By: Shelley McKinley Omar Sesay, Program Director for  e Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, currently leads three outreach programs that target the homeless of Harris County with the intent of reducing the number of people living on the streets. The programs are: PATH which stands for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness; HOT which stands for Homeless Outreach Program; and SUDOP which stands for Substance Use Disorder Outreach Program. Each of these programs focus on the individual and what he or she needs immediately, like shelter, followed by a menu of services. As Sesay explains, “There is a difference between mental health and mental illness. We all have mental health. Protect it. It is okay to seek assistance.” & PATH is a program that provides clinical mental health and non-clinical services to adults ages 18 or older who are both homeless and have a mental illness or co-occurring substance use disorder. The goal of the program is to improve the individual’s quality of life by connecting them with ongoing outpatient mental health services at The Harris Center. Intakes for new clients are performed every morning on a  rst-come,  rst-serve basis. Individuals experiencing homelessness can walk-in to request...