How a Miami health care group is meeting homeless patients where they live

MIAMI (AP) — Jonas Richards became homeless several years ago after losing his job as a truck driver. Despite suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes, seeing a doctor hasn't been a major priority since then.

“When you're homeless, it's not easy,” Richards said. “You find yourself hustling, trying to keep a little money in your pocket, trying to find something to eat.”

But Richards recently had his first visit with doctors from Miami Street Medicine while sitting on a curb outside a homeless shelter.

“You get everything done right here very fast,” Richards said. “It was a big help.”

Miami Street Medicine is a nonprofit organization providing free mobile health care services to homeless people. It’s part of a larger group, Dade County Street Response, which also includes a free clinic called Doctors Within Borders, a disaster relief team and a mental health crisis line.

Miami Street Medicine teams of paid staff and medical school student volunteers aren’t just bandaging cuts and handing out aspirin. They’re performing intake on patients with tablet computers and offer follow-up visits for chronic conditions. They're working with specialists like dermatologists, neurologists and cardiologists.

“We’re out there to meet the needs of our patients,” founder Dr. Dan Bergholz said. “And if that’s a cough drop, we’ve got you. We are happy to help you with that cough drop. But really the mission is so much greater. It’s showing that we care, and we’re there for them. So when that cough becomes pneumonia, they’ll let us listen to their lungs and maybe trust us to take them to the hospital.”

Bergholz began laying groundwork for Miami Street Medicine about seven years ago. He said he had started doing charity outreach with homeless people as an undergraduate, but it seemed like more could be done.

“It just felt like we weren’t quite moving the needle for folks,” Bergholz said.

After learning more about the growing trend of street medicine and being accepted to the University of Miami’s medical school, Bergholz began working with other students to set up a program.

“I moved down to Miami early and just started hitting the streets and chatting with people,” he said. “You could call it a needs assessment.”

Just as Miami Street Medicine was taking off, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and forced the group to adjust. Bergholz connected with Dade County Street Response to provide health care to more underserved areas.

“A sort of bigger vision emerged to fill the gaps in the local social safety net,” Bergholz said.

One challenge is the transient nature of homeless people, which makes it difficult to provide continual care. Dr. Armen Henderson, founder of Dade County Street Response, said the problem is compounded by laws that target homeless people.

“The criminalization of homelessness has significantly impacted our patients’ ability to be in one place to get services,” Henderson said. “For the street medicine team, they know they meet us in one place. But if the majority of those patients are now ending up in jail, now the people are trying to figure out what places are police not harassing them.”

Another challenge is fighting the common sentiment that providing services actually increases homelessness, Henderson said.

“The only thing that ends homelessness is easy access to housing,” he said. “There’s nothing that encourages people to be unsheltered. No one wants to be unsheltered. So by offering services like this, we’re actually trying to ease people’s suffering. When people come in here, they want to get off the street. They want to figure out a plan.”

Members of Miami Street Medicine have noticed more people losing their homes in recent years as prices increase and wages remain stagnant. Dr. Inaki Bent, who oversees street medicine teams, said he’s also seen an increase in undocumented migrants on the streets as the state and federal governments have expanded immigration enforcement this year.

“I see patients here who are no longer working,” Bent said. “They’re no longer working because the fields and the construction sites have become targets. And they would prefer not to be employed or not to expose themselves to that risk.”

In addition to the individual benefit to patients, providing medical treatment on the street and at the group's clinic prevents treatable conditions from becoming emergencies that ultimately strain the entire health care system. For example, Bent had a patient who had previously been treated for seizures at an emergency room and received a prescription, but couldn't afford it. The patient would have eventually ended up back in the ER, but Miami Street Medicine paid for his medicine.

“So we’re able to fill that void and hopefully prevent a couple more admissions,” Bent said. “But we're also able to do a human service for him, for our fellow man, to provide him with the necessary health care so he can begin his path toward a productive life.”

Associated Press Video Journalist Daniel Kozin in Miami contributed to this report.

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Lyle Muhammad, left, receives treatment at the Doctors Within Borders Clinic, which provides free urgent care, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Malachi Peterson-Hester, left, takes the blood pressure of Jeremias Rodriguez Catalina, right, while working with Miami Street Medicine to provide medical services to homeless people, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Nadien D'arcangelo, of the Frame Project, left, tests eyeglasses with Terry Rhodin, right, while working with the Miami Street Medicine team to provide medical services to homeless people, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Malachi Peterson-Hester, right, pulls a cart with medical supplies as the Miami Street Medicine team heads out to provide medical services to homeless people, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Dr. Inaki Bent, right, talks with Jonas Richards, left, while working with the Miami Street Medicine team to provide medical services to homeless people, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

COTONOU, Benin (AP) — Benin President Patrice Talon on Sunday condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the country's army in his first public comments since sporadic gunfire was heard in parts of the administrative capital, Cotonou.

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin ’s state TV earlier Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, which would have been the latest of many in West Africa. The group called itself the Military Committee for Refoundation.

Later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou announced in a video on Facebook that the attempted coup had been “foiled,” but Talon, whose location was unclear, did not comment.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the victims of this senseless adventure, as well as to those still being held by the fleeing mutineers,” the president said in a televised address to the nation that ended his silence. "I assure them that we will do everything in our power to find them safe and sound.”

The coup attempt is the latest in a string of military takeovers and attempted takeovers that have rocked West Africa. Last month, a military coup in Guinea-Bissau removed former President Umaro Embalo after a contested election in which both he and the opposition candidate declared themselves winners.

Talon did not provide figures on casualties or hostages in Sunday's attempted coup.

“In the early morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, a small group of soldiers launched a mutiny to destabilize the state and its institutions,” Seidou said. “Faced with this situation, the Beninese Armed Forces and their leadership, true to their oath, remained committed to the republic.”

The regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said it ordered the deployment of troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Ghana to support Benin's army to “preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin.”

ECOWAS earlier called the attempted coup “a subversion of the will of the people of Benin.”

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu praised the Nigerian armed forces for their involvement in restoring the government in Benin. In a statement by the Nigerian government's spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga said Benin's government made two separate requests for air and ground forces.

“It took some hours before the government’s loyal forces, assisted by Nigeria, took control and flushed out the coup plotters from the National TV,” Onanuga said in the statement.

Local media reported the arrest of 13 soldiers who took part in the coup earlier on Sunday, citing sources close to the presidency. It remained unclear if Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri, the coup leader, had been apprehended. Gunfire was heard and soldiers were seen patrolling in some locations in Cotonou, but the city has been relatively calm since the coup attempt was announced.

The Military Committee for Refoundation earlier said that Tigri was appointed president of the military committee.

Following its independence from France in 1960, the West African nation witnessed multiple coups. Since 1991, the country has been politically stable following the two-decade rule of Marxist-Leninist Mathieu Kérékou.

The signal to the state television and public radio, which was cut off, was later restored.

Talon has been in power since 2016 and is due to step down next April after a presidential election.

Talon’s party pick, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, is the favorite to win the election. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was rejected by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have sufficient sponsors.

In January, two associates of Talon were sentenced to 20 years in prison for an alleged 2024 coup plot.

Last month, the country’s legislature extended the presidential term of office from five to seven years, keeping the term limit at two.

——

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

People gather near a roadway amid an attempted coup in Cotonou, Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

People on motorcycles pass by soldiers guarding a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

Soldiers ride in a military vehicle along a street amid an attempted coup in Cotonou Benin, Sunday Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo)

FILE - Benin's President Patrice Talon attends a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)