At Northwind, we have the opportunity to serve a variety of clinics around the country. Many of these clinics are categorized as “Community Health Centers” (CHC’s). These CHC’s focus on providing care to the uninsured, homeless and working poor of our communities. I work closely with many of these clinics and have been given a new perspective on the good work done on the front lines of healthcare everyday. Community health centers provide care in the most unique places: mobile medical vans going out into our neighborhoods, schools, shelters, free-standing buildings, food pantries. An incredibly dedicated group of people work to make these services available to those most in need.
The medical van pictured in this blog is a fixture in downtown Indianapolis every Saturday morning. Serving hundreds every month, this program makes a difference in peoples’ lives; free of charge to the patients. Pharmaceutical dispensing is one of the services provided and medical supplies are also made available. This particular medical van primarily serves the homeless. Most of these organizations survive completely on donations and volunteers; charity from a wide variety of citizens who care about those less fortunate than they.
I salute the efforts of our community health centers and invite anyone interested to reach out and get involved. There are many ways to help and the CHC’s I work with are always looking for caring individuals who want to make a difference. Learn more from the National Association of Free Clinics.
