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Meridian Health Care outlines $500,000 annual outreach grant; Palatka leaders press for local coordination
Summary
Meridian Health Care told the Palatka City Commission it is using a five‑year, $500,000‑per‑year federal TIA grant to fund outreach, clinical teams and care coordination across Putnam and Alachua counties; commissioners and residents pressed for clearer local access, bed capacity and collaboration.
Meridian Health Care told the Palatka City Commission on Jan. 8 that a federally funded Treatment Improvement Activity (TIA) grant provides $500,000 a year to support homeless outreach in Putnam and Alachua counties.
"The award amount is $500,000 annually," Meridian president and CEO Lauren Cohn said, describing a five‑year project that began Sept. 2023 and runs through Sept. 2028. She said the grant funds an interdisciplinary outreach team that provides trauma‑informed clinical care, peer specialists with lived experience, care coordination and aftercare for people who move from living unsheltered into housing.
Why it matters: Commissioners and residents said they want that outreach to translate into measurable local results — more reliable contact with unsheltered people, clearer pathways to bed space and reduced visible encampments downtown. Several speakers asked whether the grant pays for beds or permanent housing; Meridian staff repeatedly said the grant’s core purpose is street outreach and clinical engagement, not housing subsidies.
Meridian’s program manager for the outreach grant, Lindsay Smith, described how the agency finds people: "We have staff members out here basically every single day," she said, and teams use point‑in‑time count data, referrals from partners such as Grace Marketplace (a mobile‑van outreach subrecipient) and word‑of‑mouth to locate camps and offer services.
Commissioners pressed for local capacity details. Meridian staff said transitional housing branded as "the lodge" is in Gainesville and that residential treatment beds are not allocated by county; they evaluate referrals and place clients as space permits. Staff estimated most grant dollars pay staff salaries and noted only a small portion — they estimated about 5% or less — is available for flexible client needs such as transportation or emergency bills.
Several commissioners and members of the public urged stronger coordination among city, county and nonprofit providers. One commissioner noted the city previously set aside $200,000 for homelessness in its budget and asked how those local funds could be combined with grant and ARPA dollars and with county efforts. Meridian said it wants to remain part of collaborative planning forums and local Continuums of Care.
What’s next: Commissioners asked staff to convene partners for further planning and to report back on concrete local steps — including a proposed workshop to align funding, referrals and an outreach schedule.
