WASHINGTON - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today announced a grant in the amount of $739,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services for Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) of Middletown. The funding will allow CHC to launch a new program called “WYA” for “Wherever You Are,” which will create new access points to serve the homeless in area homeless shelters. In Middletown, CHC will work with the Eddy Shelter and Shepherd Home.

“Providing the poor and underserved with medical services they typically would not be able to access is a moral responsibility of government,” said DeLauro. “This funding will give CHC the resources necessary to provide primary and preventative medical services to homeless in our communities.”

“The needs of the homeless in the area of health care are quite significant, and this will go a long way to help us to reach that population and to ease their plight,” said Mark Masselli, CEO of Community Health Center Inc., one of the state’s largest providers of medical, dental, and mental health care to the uninsured, underinsured, working poor, and publicly insured.

Community Health Centers have been the critical source of health care for the poor, underserved, vulnerable populations at risk for poor health status in many communities throughout the state for almost thirty years. They offer a wide range of high quality preventive and primary care services, including pediatric, adolescent, adult and geriatric health care, prenatal and postpartum and depending on the availability of resources, many offer dental care, addiction services, and mental health, social services and outreach programs.