Source: Jerritt Clark / Getty
YG has been putting in a lot of work to help out the community he comes from, and thanks to a crucial partnership his philanthropic foundation has partnered with a city in California to offer free mobile mental health services to low-income people and the homeless.
On Wednesday (November 18th), the Compton, California native joined officials from the city of Hawthorne, California to commemorate the announcement of the city’s partnership with the TeleHealth Van service and his 4HunnidWays Foundation. The multi-platinum artist is a co-founder of TeleHealth Van Service along with Dion Rambo and NFL running back Todd Gurley. They were joined at the ceremony by Hawthorne City Council member Angie Reyes English, Hawthorne Police Chief Michael Ishii, along with representatives from Oracle, and from the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine. Other figures in attendance were community activist Sweet Alice Harris and DCFS Head Shirley Summers.
The new contract allows for three TeleHealth Vans to be mobilized throughout Hawthorne to provide residents who are homeless or are classified as low-income access to free mental health screenings and medical insurance submissions as well as guidance to entering programs steering individuals away from jails and access to local food banks and drives. Each vehicle is equipped with 5G wireless technology and is stocked with a full complement of PPE. Those in need of the van can schedule an appointment through the fleet’s website confidentially and in accordance with HIPAA guidelines.
As YG said when TeleHealth was launched last year to TMZ: “It works like—you basically don’t leave your house if you got a mental health situation or got doctors you need to talk to. The van comes to your location and you get in the van—it’s basically like doing a Zoom call. You get in the van and you see your mental health worker or [the doctor] over the screen, and y’all have y’all session.” The partnership will also allow the City of Hawthorne to work with local community groups and advocates to help those in need get to homeless shelters with dignity and privacy.