Housing and Health Care for the Homeless
In 2006, Palo Alto celebrated the opening of the Opportunity Center of the Mid-Peninsula, located on Encina Ave. between Town and Country Village and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. The Opportunity Center provides 88 units of housing for homeless and extremely low-income adults and families, as well as services for those who continue to be homeless. The 18 family apartments at the Center provide homes for between 20 and 30 children, all of whom have access to Palo Alto public schools, receive after school and summer program support, and are provided comprehensive medical care on-site.
The Opportunity Center was developed by the Community Working Group, a local non-profit organization representing a range of civic and faith groups. Donald Barr, MD, PhD, Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Division of General Pediatrics, was the original founder of the Community Working Group, and was President of its Board of Directors from its founding in 1998 to the opening of the Opportunity Center in 2006.
In recognition of Dr. Barr’s efforts, the Board of the Community Working Group named the medical clinic located at the Opportunity Center the “Donald A. Barr Medical Center”. Medical services are provided there to the homeless and to residents of the Opportunity Center by Opportunity Health Partners, a clinical collaboration among the Stanford School of Medicine, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, and the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Medical students, medical and psychiatric residents, and undergraduates regularly participate in the medical services provided at the Center.
