Ekene Ikeme

The Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) will receive $15 million in California state funds to contribute to the construction of the Alameda Wellness Campus on McKay Avenue.

APC, in partnership with LifeLong Medical Care and Mercy Housing, announced the $15 million award in a recent press release.

The $15 million in funds have been earmarked from the 2021-2022 California state budget. The allotment will come as a one-time payment from the California General Fund, according to the California State Assembly Floor Report that reveals all the state expenditures for the next fiscal year.

The report was published on June 11 and written by Phil Ting, chair of the California State Assembly budget committee.

In the wellness campus’ description in the report the funds will “support the Alameda Wellness Campus to provide an integrated model of care.

This includes permanent supportive housing, medical respite, primary and behavioral health care, end-of-life care, and intensive home¬less prevention and housing placement services for homeless seniors.”

“I’m so pleased we were able to secure state funding to support the Alameda Wellness Campus. This first-of-its-kind project providing healthcare, permanent supportive housing and end-of-life care for our county’s homeless residents, medically vulnerable and low-income seniors is an effort we can all be proud of,” said State Senator Nancy Skinner, who provided key leader¬ship for this request.

The wellness campus will house a 50-bed medical-respite program for unhoused patients with acute illness or who need hospice-level care, as well as 100 permanent supportive homes for medically frail, homeless adults 55 years of age and older.

The campus will also have a health clinic operated by LifeLong and a homelessness prevention program. The campus will provide care for an estimated 700 unhoused Alameda County residents with complex health conditions annually.

The $15 million investment in the 2021-2022 state budget for capital costs moves the project into the final stretch of the capital campaign, according to the APC press release.

The development received early investments and collaborative leadership from Kaiser Permanente, Alameda County and other prominent funders.

The Alameda Wellness Campus is scheduled to open in 2023.

APC has created supportive housing communities for homeless families since its inception in 1999. APC is currently rebuilding 200 supportive housing units and developing 157 new supportive housing units.

Its services include case management, job training, child and youth programs, resident leadership initiatives and food-security programs for people in need.

LifeLong, established in 1976, is a federally qualified health center, that provides primary care for 66,000 low-income East Bay residents each year.