New program aims to get mental health care to the homeless

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new psychiatry program launched in Mecklenburg County called Wellness Without Walls. It’s led by the United Way of Greater Charlotte and its Home for All Initiative.

Malia Suhren believes everyone deserves equitable health care.

“That’s not something that has to be earned. It’s just a human right,” said Suhren, director of unsheltered housing navigation for Roof Above.

It’’s a sentiment Suhren keeps close to her heart and it’s why her organization has partnered with other nonprofits and health providers to start the Wellness Without Walls program. It takes mental health care out to the streets, making sure homeless populations get mental health treatment. Suhren and her team take the essential supplies people need and a psychiatrist goes out with them once or twice a week. 

“They conduct walk-and-talk assessments, connect people with life-changing medication, provide the psycho-education that just goes beyond what we’re able to provide at outreach,” Suhren said.

All the treatment is consensual, and the goal is to help people long term.

“When we have a discussion around safety, we tend to think of our own personal safety and perceptions of safety, and that’s totally valid and totally right,” said Kathryn Firmin-Sellers, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Charlotte. “I want to feel safe on the light rail. I want to feel safe walking Uptown.”

“But I also want our homeless neighbors to feel safe as well,” she said. “So I think expanding that conversation around public safety to include all Charlotteans is a great addition and a great outcome of bringing this program to life.” 

The total homeless population in North Carolina without shelter increased by 50% from 2010 to 2024, compared with 17% nationally, according to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency.

“It would be amazing if Mecklenburg County could be something that people use as a model in order to improve services all around North Carolina,” Suhren said.

The program is in its pilot phase but the United Way says it hopes to scale the program up in the coming year. 

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