Meharry Medical College alumnus Dr. Armen Henderson (Class of 2014), joins Dr. James E.K. Hildreth to discuss how his nonprofit, Dade County Street Response (DCSR), is transforming the way underserved communities receive medical care in Miami-Dade, Florida.
Dr. Armen Henderson’s story is a testament to service, courage and innovation in the face of inequity. Through Dade County Street Response (DCSR), he’s proving that health care rooted in compassion — and prioritizing access over profit — can redefine what it means to serve.
From Philadelphia to Meharry: A Journey of Purpose
Henderson grew up in a working-class family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s a first-generation physician and first to go to medical school in his family. As he shares, his path to Meharry Medical College — and later to Jackson Memorial Hospital — wasn’t pre-planned.
“I didn’t know that this would be my path,” he says. “But in my first year at Meharry, one of the things that we had to do was to wash the feet of individuals at the local rescue mission.”
That single act of service, Henderson believes, propelled him on a life-long journey of serving the underserved. “We were training to be doctors,” he shares, “but yet we were still kneeling at the feet of individuals who we considered less fortunate.”
That defining moment, coupled with a volunteer trip to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, revealed how poverty and inequity transcend borders.
“Comparing conditions to what those people were facing in Haiti to what we face here in the United States, I saw a lot of similarities and a lot of work that needed to be done to rectify both.”
The Birth of Dade County Street Response
During his residency at Jackson Memorial, Henderson began developing what would become Dade County Street Response — “sort of like a medical startup, if you will, without the tech that develops programming that is tailored to the needs of marginalized populations.”
DCSR began as a disaster-relief team but quickly grew into a multifaceted model of care. “Since then we’ve expanded to encompass a street medicine team, a free urgent care, an alternative to 911 program, a trauma recovery center and a research institute.”
The mission was clear: meet people where they are — before crises strike. “I wanted to develop programming that targeted them, that could help them before they reached the hospital, before things got to the crisis level.”
An Alternative to 911: Saving Lives Through Trust
One of DCSR’s most innovative programs is a mental-health mobile crisis line.
“When police show up for mental health crises — with or without a social worker — they’re 17 to 18 times more likely to shoot and kill you,” Henderson explains.
Inspired by the Black-led Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh, his team “trains individuals in the community to respond to people who are having crises in order to cut down on Baker Acts or involuntary psychiatric holds, but also just to stop people from being killed in mental health crises.”
This approach reframes emergency response as care first, not enforcement — placing compassion and cultural understanding at the center.
Social Determinants of Health in Action
“If I had to describe what we are doing, it would definitely be social determinants of health in action,” Henderson says.
“We understand what they are, what the disparities are and then we try to develop programming around those things to help decrease morbidity and mortality associated with them.
Rather than depend on government contracts, DCSR sustains its work through foundations, nonprofits and individual donors.
“We’ve done it through donations from foundations, from other nonprofits, from personal donations,” he shares. “But at this point, what we found is that we actually need to create for-profit ventures that are going to fund our nonprofit activities. And so we are in the process of looking at alternative revenue structures through housing development and things of that nature to help fund some of the things that we want to continue to do for our patient population.”
Collaboration and Community Partnerships
Henderson’s vision thrives on collaboration.
“We draw partners from the university — law school, medical school, school of social work and education — but we also have community partners that are very, very invested in our work because they see that we have similar missions.”
After the murder of George Floyd, University of Miami students successfully advocated for institutional support of community-based racial-justice work.
“Half of my salary is paid for by the University of Miami,” he explains. “That didn’t happen by accident, and I’ve been really supported by the administration since that time.”
Building Trust With the Unsheltered
“The trust mechanism,” Henderson acknowledges, “is probably the hardest part about delivering care on the street.”
“You’ll just find that the population that we serve who are unsheltered are just distrustful of others because of the notion and feelings that people have towards them.”
His team spends weeks earning that trust: “Some of our interactions are just like, ‘Hey, here goes the water, here goes some crackers.’ And it might be a month until they say, ‘I trust these people before. Lemme tell them that I missed cancer treatment, that I need glasses, that I lost my ID or that I need to get into a drug recovery program.’”
Confronting Injustice: Arrested for Compassion
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Henderson’s dedication made international headlines after police detained him while he was distributing tents to people experiencing homelessness.
“I think what upset people, not just in this country but around the world,” he explains, “was that here you have this doctor that is really doing good work — and for no reason the police put someone in handcuffs that’s doing so much good in his neighborhood.”
Henderson believes moments of injustice like he experienced — as well as the response to Hurricane Katrina, George Floyd — define what’s right and wrong with the country. But despite the obstacles thrown before him, Henderson has no plans on standing down when faced with injustice.
Carrying the Meharry Legacy Forward
Today, Henderson remains driven by Meharry’s founding principle — “Worship of God through Service to Mankind.”
“My call to action,” he says, “is we need to get back into that. Countless black hospitals and educational institutions have closed. In this moment, the importance of having those for people like us who need refuge from what we’re facing in the United States right now is absolutely needed.”
Leading by example, Henderson is building a medical facility as part of a housing complex in Miami. “We want people to support that, but we also want the rest of the individuals to start standing up similar institutions around the country.”
His message to current Meharry students is both challenge and charge:
“Take the ideas of a place like Meharry and take that seriously,” he urges. “When you graduate medical school and you become a doctor, it’s not just for you, it’s for the betterment of your community, it’s about the good of humankind. And Meharry represents that.”
“You sit on the shoulders of giants here, at one of two HBCU medical schools that are graduating virtually all the physicians throughout the country,” Henderson offers. “It is up to you now to continue to hold that legacy dear.”
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