Newsroom

MHALA recently received a $74,797 community health grant from CommonSpirit Health to continue its HealthLink program at St. Mary Medical Center, Long Beach, through the end of 2024.

Since 2018, MHALA has had a clinical social worker and personal service coordinator co-located at St. Mary Medical Center to address the psychosocial challenges of unhoused community members with mental health needs who frequently use the emergency department as their primary source of healthcare.

By providing immediate connections to a vast array of wraparound services — including food, shelter, access to medical and mental health professionals, and case management — before patients leave the hospital, our program participants have reduced their emergency department visits by 80%.

MHALA was one of three local nonprofits that assist Long Beach’s underserved communities that received a grant from Dignity Health’s St. Mary Medical Center.