Hope Van brings mobile mental‑health outreach, Narcan and peer support to Thomasville unhoused residents

Carol Kelso of CNS interviewed Gregory Roberts about a mobile outreach program called the Hope Van that brings mental‑health and harm‑reduction services to unhoused people across Thomasville and Thomas County.

Roberts, who identified himself as a therapist on the van, said, "The Hope Van is, our health outreach and peer engagement van," and described its mission as meeting people where they are to reduce barriers such as heat and unreliable transportation.

The program received grant funding from the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust, Roberts said, which allowed organizers to purchase the vehicle. "We're able to buy this beautiful van, which essentially allows us to bring services to our unhoused populations," he said. Roberts outlined an early schedule: Mondays at the Thomas County Library near Madison, Wednesdays at the Red Roof Inn near Paveau Road and Thursdays at Thomas County Cares at 606 North Madison Street from 5 to 7 p.m.

Roberts said the van's team includes two therapists, a peer support specialist and a registered nurse. "Our first question to folks is, what do you need?" he said, describing how staff triage needs and provide referrals, basic supplies and connections to longer‑term care. The van is stocked with naloxone (Narcan) for opioid overdose reversal and offers brief psychoeducation on how to use it and other harm‑reduction information.

Roberts also said he runs an assisted outpatient treatment program for people with severe and persistent mental illness and that the program partners with the probate court; he named Judge Josh Smith as a supporter. He framed the Hope Van as an innovation for the rural county and said he believes it may be the first program of its kind in Georgia. That claim was made in the interview and was not independently verified during the segment.

Thomas County Cares is a local partner, Roberts said, and provides donations such as "manna bags" from Tammy Murphy and others that the van distributes alongside referrals and services. Roberts said organizers aim to keep the schedule consistent and plan to expand stops as the program develops.

Kelso closed the segment by thanking Roberts for his work and noting that photos of the van's interior would be shared. Roberts said the van is actively operating at the sites named and that outreach organizers are working to build reliable, repeated visits so people know where to find services.

The interview did not include a formal rollout date beyond the schedule Roberts described, and Roberts' statement that the Hope Van is the only such van in Georgia was not corroborated in the segment. For information about current stops and hours, Roberts said the program is establishing a public schedule at its regular locations.