Harmony Health is taking health care to the streets of Yuba-Sutter.

The Harmony Health Street Medicine team spends their days visiting encampments and connecting with vulnerable people, meeting them where they are and offering care outside of a clinic and without barriers.

"A lot of what we do is outside of the norm," said Alexis Moreno, a social worker on the team.

The street medicine team has a different approach to medical and mental health care. Instead of the clinic, the team's goal is to meet people wherever they are.

"That's sometimes in an encampment, in a car, or on the side of the street. That's very often where we're going," Moreno said.

They bring the care and connections to doctors right to the people who need it most, building relationships and trust along the way, even helping some people get into housing.

"We do outreach. We come across people like Armando, who just needed care in the moment, so we're able to do that," said Aundrea Caracciola, a registered nurse on the team, of a man who received assistance on Friday.

After the team stopped by an encampment friday, one man was able to get his wound taken care of and put on antibiotics. Another man, who only wanted to be identified as Chief, says the homeless community relies on the street medicine team.

"They're the best thing we got out here. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have services out here to come to us and check on us or pick up our prescriptions or anything like that," said Chief, who says he's been homeless for six years.

Being mobile, the team can transport people to and from appointments and deliver medicine when they needed. The team says they're also able to provide mental health care on the spot, something new and the only thing like it in the region.

"Aundrea and I are really connecting with people and building the rapport with them to be able to even have a conversation to address their needs, and that takes multiple engagements," Moreno said. "Being a social worker, I am also on the behavioral health side of it, so I am able to provide crisis support and therapy on the streets. It's been huge for this community."

The program is mostly funded through grants.

"They trust us. We've built the relationship, and if we say, 'Hey, this is who you should see as a provider,' then they're more apt to do it," Caracciola said.