Our History and Mission
Formerly Health Care for the Homeless, Outreach Community Health Centers (OCHC) has, at the heart of its mission, a drive to provide the highest quality health care and support services to the most vulnerable people in the Greater Milwaukee Area: the homeless, those experiencing extreme poverty and the uninsured.
Incorporated in 1980, Outreach Community Health Centers began direct service delivery in 1984 as a demonstration project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Memorial Trust. During the past 35 years, OCHC programs have grown to provide a strong continuum of services for the homeless as well as a critical complement of support services for the poor and uninsured.
Today, OCHC delivers services to those in need at six different locations, while our Street Outreach team seeks and finds homeless people sheltered in abandoned buildings and parks, as well as those seeking service at area shelters, food pantries and meal sites.
OCHC serves the most disadvantaged people in Milwaukee County. Residents of the 5 poorest zip codes in Milwaukee County make up 40% of OCHC’s service population, and the zip code of our primary service site, 53206, has a median household income that is 48.7% lower than that of the county as a whole.