Every Tuesday in a Pottstown church rectory, the Tower Health Street Medicine team at the Pottstown hospital gather to help treat the medical needs of the Pottstown homeless, reports Bo Koltnow for WFMZ.

“It warms your heart in a way that I think care in a lot of other settings doesn’t,” said Dr. Van Vliet, one of the co-founders of the program.

The program recently completed its first year, and just graduated into a full-fledged operation. When the program first started, many involved thought they’d maybe see around 50 people, but they ended up treating 116.

This year they’ve already seen twenty new people come by for medical aid.

“We’ve been impressed with the number of connections we have been able to make in the community,” Van Vliet said.

One such area has been Community Health and Dental Care. They provide both doctors and immediate access to patients’ records, dental and eye care, and quick admittance into hospitals as needed.

Chase Wolfgang, a 25-year-old street medicine patient, hadn’t seen a doctor in years before being treated by the street medicine team.

“Some people think it’s great and some are not motivated enough to come out here and get checked up,” he said of the program.

For Mark Boorse of Access Services, who serves as a conduit to care for the homeless in Pottstown, he remains hopeful that social barriers preventing the homeless from getting care will be broken so their health can be taken care of.

“The goal really is to help those who don’t have access to get ongoing health care to be able to get connected to a clinic and actually be a patient,” he said.

Read more about Pottstown’s street medicine team at WFMZ.