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Boston Globe

At Amos House health clinic, a $1 million grant is a ‘game changer' as threat of Medicaid cuts looms

Advertisement But The Clinic relies on Medicaid reimbursement, and with Congress now proposing to Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up 'This [grant] money will be kind of a cushion to support the difference between the money that we are billing now through Medicaid and the cuts that may come through, because we can't support The Clinic without Medicaid reimbursement,' Hayes told the Globe, after a news conference Wednesday announcing the grant award. 'That's going to be our challenge.' Related : The Clinic is supplementing with grants, she said. 'But it's a waiting game, because we can't make changes until we know. And yet, we have to move ahead,' Hayes said. 'We froze at first and then I said, 'You know what, we've been through a lot here in the years that I've been here. We're just going to get through it and come out the other side. We still are going to open our doors, continue to serve meals and whatever people need, and get people connected to services.' Barbara Papitto, the philanthropist who founded the Papitto Opportunity Connection, said that she is anticipating more requests for help from nonprofits as the Trump administration has frozen or cut spending. Related : Since its inception in December 2020, the Advertisement But then, she said, they decided to keep going with help for basic services. 'We need to be in the community like we have been to be responsive to any kind of need that comes forward,' Papitto said. 'We've always been there all during the pandemic with the basic services. You can't help someone get a better job if they're not being fed.' The Innovation Challenge Grant is intended to support programs by Rhode Island-based nonprofits that create systemic change in education, skills training, entrepreneurship, health care or housing. The first $1 Million Innovation Challenge Grant was awarded last year to Brown University Health's Comprehensive Sickle Cell Treatment program. The Clinic is seen as a first-of-its-kind program, which will serve some of the 15,000 people who come to Amos House for help with all kinds of basic needs. They can come for a meal, meet with staff, and get help with basic services. 'And within a few hours, they can sign up to meet with a clinician to begin their journey of healing from the trauma of living on the streets, sleeping in abandoned buildings, turning to substances, being cold and lonely and unwanted,' Hayes said. She took Papitto on a tour of the medical clinic, with its rooms designed for privacy and comfort, to give the clients at Amos House the same environment they'd find at a regular doctor or therapist's office. The licensed facility offers mental health and substance abuse counseling, psychiatric care, integrated medical care, and prescribes medications. When it started offering cancer screenings, people signed up in the dining hall. Advertisement The Clinic helps its clients access health insurance, but also serves all regardless of their insurer or insurance, or ability to pay. 'For decades, Amos House has been helping people get their basic needs met and offering community members a hand up out of poverty and homelessness, but what we hadn't been able to do is offer health care. And our staff have watched as our guests' health needs remained unmet as they've gotten lost in the shuffle of a health care system that just doesn't have enough capacity and is often really hard to access and navigate for the people who we serve,' said Sarah Martino, The Clinic's medical director. 'But that changes now.' Amanda Milkovits can be reached at