Today, Brenda Goldstein, LifeLong Medical Care’s Chief of Integrated Services, announced Ryan Wythe’s appointment as LifeLong first Homeless Services Director.
Ryan came to LifeLong two years ago as the first Street Medicine Manager and has led the work of the five street medicine teams, creating a highly effective program that has been recognized at the city, county and state level. Ryan has a tremendous passion and commitment to creating compassionate services for marginalized communities, a deep understanding of trauma informed care and harm reduction, and a nimble and creative approach to addressing emerging needs.
LifeLong’s homeless services have grown considerably over the years, now encompassing Supportive Housing, Street Medicine, Street Outreach, the Our Place Drop-In Center, Medical Respite, and the Trust Clinic. As Homeless Services Director Ryan will be providing leadership to bring these programs together in a more cohesive, coordinated, effective and efficient way, furthering our vision of LifeLong as a leader in the intersection of health and housing.
There will be a transition period as Ryan takes on this new role. While continuing to manage Street Medicine, he will initially focus on supporting the Supportive Housing program, which has been without a director for a year, and homeless outreach efforts. Ryan will work collaboratively with the Trust Clinic, which will continue to operate under the Clinical Operations umbrella.
If you haven’t yet seen this new video about LifeLong’s Street Medicine work, take a look. It was produced by the California Health Care Foundation and Invisible People and gives a great sense of the work that our teams do every day on the streets of Oakland and Berkeley, rain or shine.
