COEUR d'ALENE — A warm place, friendly faces, a bite to eat, internet access, behavioral health support and medical services are among the many resources Heritage Health's Street Medicine Community Outreach offers North Idaho's unhoused neighbors.

A $6,000 grant from the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Coeur d'Alene Lodge No. 1254 will assist Street Medicine team members as they continue to compassionately care for this underserved community.

"It's absolutely amazing," Street Medicine outreach specialist Two Feathers said Wednesday. "We need more people like the Elks in our community."

Coeur d'Alene Elks Esteemed Lady Knight Lynne Thomas, treasurer Fran Lara and member Trevor Thomas presented the check to Street Medicine Director Chris Green following a tour of the facility at 2205 Ironwood Place, where the program has operated since moving from its previous Harrison Avenue location in February 2025.

"My dream was to move from that shoebox we were in and really open a true health care clinic," Green said. "At the old clinic, those who were referred to see doctors would walk right in and be around people who were really street homeless."

With a separate entrance to the dayroom, patients have more privacy when they arrive for doctor appointments, while drop-in guests have somewhere safe to hang out, Green said.

"When it’s really hot in the summertime they can come in and stay cool," he said. "In the wintertime they come in and stay warm during the day. We have snacks and food and we do different things to help."

A nonprofit, Heritage Health is North Idaho’s largest provider of integrated medical, dental and behavioral health services. Street Medicine Community Outreach began in 2007, when Heritage Health staff put on headlamps and backpacks and went into the homeless encampments that used to be behind Target and along the Spokane River.

“They’d go in late at night when they heard about somebody in need,” Green said. “Fast forward to today and there are no more large encampments, it’s largely just one here and one there."

But the number of individuals and families Street Medicine serves is much higher than one might think, said Green, who has led the program for four years.

“I thought we’d just see maybe 10 people a day who were unhoused, and probably the same 10 people every day. I was shocked when we started checking our numbers, we were about 23-25 a day,” he said. “That’s up over between 30-50 depending on the day these days.” 

It includes young families with kids living in their cars, Green said. The highest proportion of unhoused people is senior citizens.

“Maybe they’re paying $600 for a small apartment and someone will come in and buy it, flip the apartment over and now the rent is $1,500," he said. "It prices them out; they don’t have savings, they don’t have backup, so we serve a lot of seniors.”

Lara said she hadn't heard of the Street Medicine program until a community member mentioned it.

“We are always looking for organizations, nonprofits that really provide a service to the community,” she said.

The Elks annually awards a $4,000 Beacon Grant and a $2,000 Spotlight Grant to local causes or nonprofits. Lara, grant coordinator, said the grants have been combined the past few years to maximize support for recipients.

"When you find an organization you're very supportive of or one that's very worthy, you want to give them the most you can," she said. "This year, we went ahead and combined the two."

The Elks used a $3,500 Gratitude Grant in November to support youth literacy by providing dictionaries to local third graders. The Elks also donated a $1,000 grant to the 2025 Press Christmas for All campaign to help local families and individuals in need. The benevolent group also recently used its Freedom Grant to support the newly formed Veterans Club, which addresses mental health and suicide prevention among veterans and first responders.

“We do a lot in the community. Sometimes I don't think people know what we do,” Lara said. “We do a lot and we want people to know, but we also want people to join and be a part of our organization."

Two Feathers said the gift from the Elks will help with "whatever our homeless friends need."

"Clean socks, clean clothes, food, medications, transportation. We do all that, and that money will help with all of those things because we don't have money for those things," Two Feathers said. "We depend on people like the Elks to get us through."

    Coeur d'Alene Elks Esteemed Lady Knight Lynne Thomas, left, and treasurer Fran Lara speak with Street Medicine Community Outreach Director Chris Green as they present a $6,000 grant to support the program on Wednesday morning.
  

    From left, Two Feathers and Chris Green of Street Medicine Community Outreach accept a $6,000 check from Coeur d'Alene Elks treasurer Fran Lara and Esteemed Lady Knight Lynne Thomas during a tour of the facility and presentation of funds on Wednesday.
  

    Chris Green gives a tour of the Street Medicine Community Outreach center on Wednesday morning, including a donation closet stocked with clothing and toiletries kept on hand for emergencies.