Englewood marks opening of Chicago's first large-scale medical respite housing facility

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago's Englewood community marked a milestone Tuesday with the opening of the city's first large-scale medical respite transitional housing facility, a center designed to provide a place for people experiencing housing insecurity to recover after a hospital stay.

The facility, called the Wholistic Haven, is located on the South Side at 58th Street and Marshfield Avenue. City leaders, including Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with medical and healthcare advocates, attended the official opening.

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Wholistic Haven is a 40-bed medical respite transitional housing facility. The initiative combines healthcare and housing services with the goal of changing how medically vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness recover after being discharged from the hospital.

Clients will have access to a range of medical services, workforce referrals and connections to permanent housing, organizers said.

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Sheila Martin, executive administrator and clinical director of the Wholistic Alliance, said the facility is intended to support recovery while also addressing longer-term needs.

"So it will be transitional housing, where if people are discharged from a hospital or healthcare setting, they can convalesce. They can continue to heal while we continue the advanced directives to get them social service case management and get them to the next level, which is housing in a holistic approach," Martin said.

Facility officials said the Wholistic Haven is scheduled to open to clients on July 15.