After a week of armored Humvees and tactical trailers patrolling the streets of West Baltimore,  a different kind of vehicle rolled in from Annapolis yesterday – the Governor’s Wellmobile.

Typically assigned to the Eastern Shore to provide primary healthcare to medically under-served clients, the vehicle was parked at the corner of North and Fulton avenues to help residents recovering from the looting and violence that gripped the area on the day of Freddie Gray’s funeral.

“It’s never been assigned to Baltimore City before,” said Dr. Jane Lipscomb, Director of the Center for Community-Based Engagement and Learning at University of Maryland Baltimore. “The Wellmobile usually serves areas with not enough healthcare providers per capita.”

With several hospitals such as Johns Hopkins so nearby, Baltimore does not qualify. “But as we know from standing here, people in West Baltimore don’t all have the luxury,” Lipscomb observed dryly.

A Distressed Community

In fact, the neighborhoods of Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park score at the far end of distressed communities in the city.

In the most recent Neighborhood Health Profile, published by the city health department in December 2011, the neighborhoods’ median household income was 68% below the city’s average and the infant mortality rate was nearly double  – 21.2 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 12.1 deaths citywide.

There was a seven-year gap in life expectancy between the two neighborhoods and the city at large  (65.3 years vs. 72 years) and lead poisoning among children was 44% above the city’s average. In 2008 alone, 453 children, ages 0-6, tested positive for lead poisoning.

The 14,800 residents are 97% black or African American, 1.2% white, 0.7% Hispanic and 0.3% Asian, according to the report – and 21% of them, age 16 and older, were unemployed.

Answering Questions

The Wellmobile was not used for primary care yesterday. It was there to help answer residents’ questions about their basic needs.

Volunteers from the UMB School of Nursing, Baltimore Health Department and Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods handed out fliers listing alternative places and phone numbers to call to pick up prescriptions.

The CVS drug store at Pennsylvania and North avenues was looted and set on fire on April 27. According to city officials, the chain plans to rebuild the store at that location, but in the meantime residents who relied on the store for everyday necessities are left wanting.

Lipscomb explained that the volunteers were also there to listen. “We’re here for when community members want to talk about their views on the issues and what they see long term,” she said.

While business was slow yesterday, volunteers were hopeful more people will come with inquiries today, now that they know the resource is available.

The Wellmobile will return to the corner of Fulton and North avenues today and Friday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. After that, volunteers will reassess the area to see if the Wellmobile is still a necessary presence.

The Wellmobile is not the only effort to provide resources to those affected by the closed CVS. Written on the brick wall of the store was a message in chalk reading “Food 4 the community @ St. Peters 2:30” with an address.

Someone had also posted a flier for the newly reopened Keystone Pharmacy, which among other services advertises free prescription delivery.