Inside a wholly unassuming building in the heart of Ingleside’s Ocean Avenue, a team of dedicated experts works to address the mental health needs of the people of Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside.
The OMI Family Center, a branch of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, quietly stands at Ocean and Faxon avenues, and for over 50 years has provided mental health services to area residents.
Residents and passersby may be surprised to learn that 29 full- and part-time employees serve several hundred patients each year.
“It's a good place to work,” said Crista Underwood, the facility’s director, who has worked as a clinician there for 13 years before being promoted during the pandemic. “We provide a lot of service to the community and really help people with their mental health needs.”
The IMANI group in February. | SFDPH
Services at the center include programs for children such as individual therapy and psychiatry programs, the I Move A Nation Independently program which provides culturally congruent care to Black/African-American residents and the Anchor program for people with developmental or intellectual disabilities plus the general mental health programs for adults.
Other services include group therapy, case management, a mobile outreach team that brings short-term care to those who can’t make it to the facility and pre-vocational programs for those receiving mental health services at the clinic that include soft-skills training and preparation for referral to vocational programs.
“I have really enjoyed seeing our clients get better,” Underwood said, noting how she’s seen patients overcome challenges, return to work, repair relationships with family and start volunteering. “All these kinds of things just are very motivating to see the changes that people are making in their lives and being able to support that.”
Underwood said the office serves residents beyond the OMI, including the Bayview-Hunter’s Point, Outer Mission and Sunset neighborhoods, but the goal is to link people with services that are close to them.
The health department told The Light that the clinic served 649 unique individuals during the 2024-25 fiscal year, including 582 adults and 69 children and families. It’s annual budget is about $5.6 million, funded through a combination of the General Fund, Medi-Cal reimbursement, the Mental Health Services Act and Prop C.
The center also accepts those who are insured, including those on Medi-Cal and MediCare. For those who aren’t insured, they accept patients who pay out-of-pocket with a sliding fee scale and work to connect them to health care coverage services.
“The services we provide are for people who have what's considered moderate to severe mental health needs but are stable in the community,” Underwood said. “Our goal is to help keep people in the community, so that they don't have to go into some kind of residential or hospital setting.”
The facility is staffed with psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, health workers, peer specialists and clerical support who are stationed at the Ocean Avenue facility.
“[The] staff is dedicated to providing recovery-oriented mental health services for underserved populations in San Francisco,” a SFDPH spokesperson said.
Underwood said that the facility is there to help and urges those who are dealing with feelings of stress, thoughts of self-harm, or those who find themselves turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms, among other mental health crises, to seek services.
“There is help, and you don't have to suffer alone,” Underwood said. “Things can get better.”
OMI Family Center
Address: 1701 Ocean Ave.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone for New Clients: 888-246-3333
Phone for Existing Clients: 415-452-2200
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