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e city’s bright purple eet of RV buses and vans is on a mission to change these statistics for the better, by bringing straightforward, e ective care directly to the people who need it.

e Wellnesss Winnie program is adding two Mini Winnies and a larger Super Winnie medical RV to its eet this fall. ey will be stationed around the city at least once per week. e Winnies will also have expanded services provided by an advanced practitioner and registered nurse who can provide clinical services like wound care and medically assisted treatment to those who need it.

e Mini Winnies will also be available upon request for community events and gatherings where organizers believe the services could be bene cial. e vans are highly mobile, so they can go where a need exists, reducing transportation barriers to care.

“Our response now is, people are needing help, and they’re already there,” Horst said. “By Wellness Winnie being there, it’s not that we’re

Additionally, the Wellness Winnie program is partnering with Denver Public Schools to o er services at six community hubs connected to local elementary schools in higher-needs neighborhoods within all of Denver’s regions, Horst said. e six hubs are Place Bridge Academy in the Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood, Colfax Elementary in the West Colfax neighborhood, Smith Elementary in Northeast Park Hill, Focus Points Family Resource Center in Elyria Swansea, John H. Amesse Elementary in Montbello and Johnson Elementary in the Mar Lee neighborhood.

Because the schools are known, trusted places in the community, people will hopefully feel more comfortable approaching the Wellness Winnies, Horst said. Once they do, they will nd that they do not need to provide insurance, have U.S. documentation or speak English to successfully access care, Horst added.

“ ere continues to be disparities and a lot of stigma that certain communities within Denver really struggle with, even more than just your baseline population,” Horst said. “So with that in mind, we’re excited to have these kinds of services where the idea is that we have the lowest barriers possible.” e Wellness Winnie parks in Struggle of Love’s parking lot every Tuesday to conduct educational programs like Narcan training, hand out hygiene bags and assist clients with their personal needs. is helps the sta at Struggle of Love easily connect clients to services without having to ask clients to travel o site or search throughout the city for resources, said Ashley Smith, director of mental health services at Struggle of Love. People at Struggle of Love have come to know and trust the sta , and feel comfortable approaching the purple vans, Smith said. e Wellness Winnie team also offers taxi vouchers, so that if they refer someone to seek treatment at another site, they can provide the transportation means to get there. e Mini Winnies are a permanent expansion, and the medical services currently have a three-year funding allocation that could be renewed in the future, Horst said. e team is optimistic that the new services will make a big di erence in caring for the Denver community.

DPHE partnered with community organizations like Street Fraternity, Heart and Hand Center and Struggle of Love Foundation to better understand community needs and build trust with residents, Horst said.

Struggle of Love is a nonpro t based in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood that provides underprivileged youth and families with year-round access to various services and programs, including a food pantry, annual toy giveaways and sports and mentorship programs.

“We walk them down personally, and we talk to them to establish those connections right there on the spot, so if they already trust Struggle of Love, then they’ll trust Wellness Winnie because we trust Wellness Winnie,” Smith said.

Each vehicle will generally provide the same services while out in the community, with the medical RV Super Winnie more focused on clinical care, and the other vehicles more focused on behavioral and mental health care and education such as overdose prevention and reversal, Horst said.

“It’s been in the works for a while, and to see some of this come to fruition is super exciting,” Horst said. “It just continues to be a very humbling, rewarding experience to be able to serve the city and county of Denver in this way with our Wellness Winnie team.”

To learn more about the Wellness Winnie, visit tinyurl.com/WellnessWinnie-Denver.