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<\/p>\nDespite the distant buzz of interstate traffic, the new Jewish Family Services of Dallas campus in Addison is peaceful.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may arrive stressed out, but you’re not going to feel that way when you leave,\u201d said Cathy Barker, president and CEO of Jewish Family Services of Dallas, or JFS Dallas.<\/p>\n
The 100,000-square-foot campus off Dallas North Tollway and Keller Springs Road offers comprehensive services \u2014 including medical, mental health, nutritional and social services \u2014 under one roof. It could be the first community health center in the metroplex to have all those services on site.<\/p>\n
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JFS Dallas’ CEO said the organization has always understood that one service area or basic need often leads to another.<\/p>\n
Though JFS Dallas began to meet the needs of the growing Jewish community in North Texas following World War II and the Holocaust, Barker said the organization serves anyone in need. She said her organization has always understood that one basic need often leads to another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we were able to do by coming to this campus is sort of rethink how we did it in a way that was going to make sense more from the client perspective,\u201d Barker said. \u201cWe were thoughtful about how we brought our services here, how we designed the building, the fact that it needed to fit nicely with our own values of being welcoming, compassionate, caring. You feel that when you come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A health care access \u201ccrisis\u201d<\/p>\n
The campus is in a \u201cmedically underserved area,\u201d meaning there aren\u2019t enough medical providers or health centers to serve the population.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people think, \u2018In North Dallas, well, there isn’t a need,\u2019\u201d Barker said. \u201cBut you have to remember that because of the cost of living and everything people are moving north or searching for other areas that are affordable. Health access needs to be placed in those locations, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
JFS Dallas is in the process of becoming what\u2019s known as a federally qualified health center, or FQHC. The FQHC, or community health center, model is designed to support uncompensated care that health centers provide to underserved populations, like low-income individuals who are uninsured or underinsured, or people enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare.<\/p>\n
When JFS Dallas did a community needs assessment in 2019, Barker said the organization found less than 5% of people in the underserved population had a community health center close enough to them \u2013 that leaves almost 800,000 people, in the 22 zip codes that the JFS food bank serves, without a place to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started on this journey right after the [COVID-19] pandemic hit,\u201d Barker said. \u201cAnd we could see that the individuals that were most impacted and dying from COVID were people who didn’t have access.\u201d<\/p>\n
JFS Dallas hasn\u2019t received the FQHC designation yet, but Barker said she\u2019s confident the organization will be approved later this year.<\/p>\n
But, JFS Dallas already provides the type of care available in a community health center.<\/p>\n
\u201cA medical home\u201d<\/p>\n
The clinical space is located on the first floor. It has a what Barker describes as a \u201ccomfortable and welcoming\u201d waiting room, on-site lab services, nurses\u2019 stations and a dozen exam rooms.<\/p>\n
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There are 12 regular exam rooms \u2014 which are shared by four doctors \u2014 to see patients. <\/p>\n
Barker said patients in underserved populations often rely on safety net providers \u2013 which could mean seeing a different provider from visit to visit. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come to any one of JFS’s health centers, you’re going to see the same doctor,\u201d Barker said. \u201cThis becomes a medical home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clinical space has additional exam rooms so it can provide services through visiting doctors \u2013 like a cardiologist or an OB-GYN.<\/p>\n
Barker said the clinic also has integrated behavioral health services, which allows providers to do what she called a \u201cwarm handoff.\u201d For example, a parent may talk to a doctor about behaviors that their child is exhibiting \u2013 like being disruptive in school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor can actually walk over, pull the [behavioral health] clinician in,\u201d Barker said. \u201c[The behavioral health clinician] can do a little mini meeting to reassess\u2026the challenges and then determine, \u2018Does this child need to come in for a few little mini meetings with me, or do I need to refer them for longer term interventions?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
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The play therapy rooms offer children additional avenues to communicate and develop, such as sand therapy to help younger children tell stories or foosball to give teenagers something to do while they talk to a therapist.<\/p>\n
Abigail Ruhman \/ KERA<\/p>\n
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Play therapy rooms offer children additional avenues to communicate and develop.<\/p>\n
Abigail Ruhman \/ KERA<\/p>\n
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On the second floor of the JFS Dallas’ Addison campus, a large room includes several pieces of play equipment, like a fabric tube and a wooden slide. The room is used to provide sensory experiences for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.<\/p>\n
Abigail Ruhman \/ KERA<\/p>\n
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JFS Dallas’ CEO Cathy Barker plays with a colorful mat in the sensory gym. She said the sensory gym is an important therapeutic space for children on with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD. <\/p>\n
Abigail Ruhman \/ KERA<\/p>\n
The campus also includes one of the metroplex\u2019s only accredited clubhouses for people with severe and persistent mental health issues, like a traumatic brain injury or schizophrenia.<\/p>\n
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The campus also includes one of the metroplex\u2019s only accredited clubhouses for people with severe and persistent mental health issues, like a traumatic brain injury or schizophrenia. The People Living Active Now, or PLAN, program has about 150 registered members.<\/p>\n
\u201cClubhouses are required to have their own entrance because they’re just for the members,\u201d Barker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a member-run program\u2026The purpose of it isn\u2019t to go hang out and shoot pool. They work.\u201d<\/p>\n
JFS Dallas\u2019 clubhouse has about 150 registered members who run the space. Members have a bistro, where they determine the menu, several creative spaces and activity rooms. There are even offices for members who are peer support professionals for other members.<\/p>\n
Barker said the clubhouse helps people find community, meaning and purpose \u2013 which is why more than 95% of its members don\u2019t get re-hospitalized.<\/p>\n
One campus, many services<\/p>\n
Barker said the theme of a \u201cwarm handoff\u201d doesn\u2019t just stop with health services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like if one area of health is not being addressed then the others can be affected,\u201d Barker said. \u201cBy having it all under one roof, individuals can become physically, emotionally, nutritionally and financially healthier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker said the goal is for an average visitor have accessed at least three \u201cunduplicated services.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause to us, that’s what is needed in order to help an individual become more self-sufficient,\u201d Barker said.<\/p>\n
That can include the health center, therapy, case management, career and other social services. JFS Dallas\u2019 Addison campus also has food assistance programs, like its Meals-on-Wheels program \u2013 the only program providing Kosher meals in North Texas. It also has an on-site food pantry.<\/p>\n
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The food pantry has aisles stacked with shelf-stable foods, bins filled with fresh produce and a cold section that includes prepared food and other ingredients. It even has a hygiene section with items like diapers, period products and toilet paper.<\/p>\n
Barker said the compressive approach has a lot of benefits for clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay I’m a patient, and I know that I need to see the doctor,\u201d she said. \u201cI’m not really thinking about all of my other challenges that I have. I’m just trying to take care of the immediate urgent need.\u201d<\/p>\n
That patient also likely doesn\u2019t have a lot of time and may not have access to transportation to access the services they need. Barker said that\u2019s why JFS Dallas wanted access to resources to be simple, and works with people to make sure they have the transportation and resources they need.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can\u2019t help them also work on getting a job\u2026and help them to get the food that they need to address their proper diet for treating their diabetes, they’re not going to get better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She also said people don\u2019t have to go to various independent organizations and retell their whole story \u2013 which can be retraumatizing and exhausting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can basically come here, take an intake, we get all their information, connect them to the services, and now they have a home for anything,\u201d Barker said. \u201cWe’ve always been responsive to these needs. It’s our part of repairing the world is the easiest way to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker said they\u2019ve taken steps to ensure community members feel welcome throughout the entire campus. JFS hired security guards, which Barker said helps people feel safe, \u201cespecially\u201d with concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raids growing.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The security guard] is not a police officer. Their job is to welcome you,\u201d she said. \u201cThey’re not checking IDs. We’re not looking for residency. Everybody is welcome. We don’t care where you come from. We just want you to come get the help that you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new community health care model<\/p>\n
Last year, JFS Dallas served 22,000 individuals across all of its services \u2013 which included about 800 patients at its existing clinic on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Barker said that number should increase to 38,000 individuals by 2028, and 50,000 by 2030.<\/p>\n
She said it\u2019s going to take more than just her organization to address the total need JFS Dallas identified, but the new campus will have a significant effect on thousands of North Texans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are a nonprofit, especially doing the type of work that we are, we struggle over the fact that there’s so many more out there that we’re not helping,\u201d Barker said. \u201cBut the person that’s right in front of you right there is ready. And so we are making a difference in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
JFS Dallas could also end up having a greater impact on health inequities by becoming a model for other “JFS-like” organizations, she said.<\/p>\n
Though the Dallas organization isn\u2019t affiliated with the others, it is the first JFS in the country to become a community health clinic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very replicable model,\u201d Barker said. \u201cWe can teach other organizations and entities what works.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comprehensive approach with the community health center helps JFS Dallas have a more sustainable funding model, with \u201cless dependence on grants year over year to function.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barker said it\u2019s more vital than ever to address the unmet needs of people through the community as inflation and cost-of-living increases put families in tough positions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re all juggling high gas prices and how to put the food on my table is a challenge for a lot of people,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I know that the work that we’re doing is actually making a difference. I can see it in the people that we work with. I can it in reports and the data that we’re able to collect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abigail Ruhman is KERA\u2019s health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at\u00a0aruhman@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n