The National Health Care for the Homeless Council is thrilled to celebrate five years of the National Institute for Medical Respite Care! Launched July 2020, NIMRC is a special program built by the Council to advance best practices, deliver expert consulting services, and disseminate state-of-field knowledge in recuperative and medical respite care.  

Medical respite services have expanded rapidly nationwide, with programs now in at least 40 states. A foundational aspect of NIMRC is creating intentional spaces for those in the medical respite community to connect and share their experiences.

“For a lot of people, it’s that sense of community and shared purpose that really helps with resilience during challenging times,” says Julia Dobbins, NHCHC's Director of Medical Respite. “This important work is never easy, but it certainly helps when you have a supportive community of peers at your fingertips.”   

Program Certification

Launched a national certification process in April 2025 that enables programs to clearly articulate their quality and value to clients, funders, and community partners.  

Education and Connection

Hosted hundreds of virtual and in-person trainings and meetings across the U.S., including the inaugural 2024 California Recuperative Care Symposium in Sacramento.

Capacity Building for Programs

Regranted more than $5 million dollars directly to medical respite programs, which included facilitating more than 500 one-on-one technical assistance calls with programs and partners.  

Educational Resources

Published dozens of new resources, including 13 online courses, an updated Standards for Medical Respite Care, and the foundational
A Framework for Medical Respite Care.

RCPN All Member Meeting: The Respite Care Providers' Network, a membership network of the Council, meets Aug. 27 to discuss key issues. Learn more.

Role-Specific Meetups: These quarterly virtual meetups convene medical respite professionals in similar roles to connect and discuss their unique challenges. Register for a meetup here.

The Council team is finalizing the conference theme and tracks for our 2026 national conference, slated for June 8-11 in Orlando. Stay tuned — we are aiming to open our call for abstracts in late July!

Coming up next week: The final session of our summer wellness training series tailored for staff of medical respite and Health Care for the Homeless programs. 

Join guest speaker Lexi Alberts, LICSW, for a conversation about the challenges of work-life balance.

Membership renewals have been emailed to the primary contacts of each organizational member. If you have questions about your renewal or did not receive an email, please reach out to us at membership@nhchc.org. 

As a reminder, annual NHCHC memberships run from July 1 to June 30 and are not prorated. Join or renew now to maximize your benefits, including  representation at our annual in-person Governing Membership meeting, conference registration discounts, and more.

In June we added a new toolkit to our resource library that is a companion to our March 2024 Clinical Guidelines: The Importance of Assessing and Addressing Health Management.

Once health center or medical respite program staff have assessed a person’s health management skills and areas needed for skill building, they can use this new toolkit to guide education and intervention.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rescinded decades-old policy that allowed health centers — and many other health care and education programs — to serve individuals regardless of immigration status. This new guidance asserts that health center services are now considered “federal public benefits,” and many non-citizens will no longer be eligible to access care.

In the announcement, HHS stated the new policy is effective immediately but also opened a 30-day public comment period and indicated further guidance will be forthcoming to ensure full implementation. The limited details available leave room for much uncertainty, but the goal is clear: to prevent non-citizens from accessing health care.

This new policy is, in short, a moral failure. The Council strongly opposes barriers to providing care to patients. 

On July 3, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed by the President the following day. This law is devastating to the health and well-being of low-income, underserved, and unhoused individuals — people who have already faced many barriers to care. Read our statement here and download our fact sheet for information about 10 Medicaid policies in the law that will most impact the Health Care for the Homeless community — either directly or indirectly.

Researchers in Boston, led by Dr. Travis Baggett, are conducting a survey to assess the characteristics and cancer screening practices of HCH programs. Email invitations are being sent to HCH program leaders from tbaggett@mgh.harvard.edu — you may have already received one or will soon. The survey takes about 10 minutes, and respondents are paid $75 for their time.

Questions about the study? Contact the research team at enhancehch-study@mgb.org or at (617) 306-9716. You can also email Dr. Travis Baggett at tbaggett@mgh.harvard.edu.

NHCHC's online merch shop is open, featuring shirts, hats, mugs, and more! Every purchase made in our shop helps fund Council programs and advocacy efforts. 

Join us for one of our upcoming free learning opportunities! Browse upcoming webinars here.

July 24
1 p.m. CDT

July 24
2 p.m. CDT

Late July

Aug. 21
2 p.m. CDT

Aug. 27
2 p.m. CDT 

Aug. 28
2 p.m. CDT

Access our resource library or take our online courses for free, whenever you want!

We are proud to recognize and sincerely thank the following organizations for their ongoing support and commitment to our shared mission:

Grounded in human rights and social justice, the mission of NHCHC is to build an equitable, high-quality health care system through training, research, and advocacy in the movement to end homelessness.

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Solidarity  •  July 18, 2025  •  Volume 8, Issue 6  •  Archives
Copyright © 2025 National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Inc.