Stories

Fighting Crohn's Disease with The Clinic's help.

“I just couldn’t stand the pain anymore…I just wanted the pain to go away. I wanted to figure out what was wrong with me. I was just getting infection and infection after infection and what [the antibiotics] were doing is just barely easing my back pain up and then a couple of months would go by and bam!, I would get sick again.

And then finally it got to the point where I started losing weight and I got sicker and sicker and I couldn’t eat…and that was when [the doctors] sent me over to the hospital for tests…they knew it was something serious then…”

“I am low income and I don’t have medical insurance through my work because I only work part-time and the free clinic has just been wonderful in helping me out in so many different ways…the staff and doctors have meant a great deal to me. I don’t know what I would do without their help and direct attention.”

Smiling again thanks to The Clinic

My window of opportunity are angels on Earth.

That is what The Free Clinic is to me. The Clinic has helped me stay healthy. They make sure I have the medical care and medication that I need.

The Clinic has dental care also. I needed 12 bad teeth pulled, and Dr. Vines pulled all of them.

My angels on Earth worked together to get me new dentures.

It was the 50th birthday gift I never expected. Now I have confidence and pride and don’t have to be ashamed when I smile.

Sharing my gifts

I believe that I have been most fortunate to learn a skill that can provide my family with a comfortable lifestyle and also help people to maintain and achieve optimal health.

I also feel strongly that all of our community citizens need access to basic healthcare, so when the vision of the Free Clinic was born in our community, I was immediately on board.

We never know when it might be ourselves who need help from a neighbor and this thought is one that motivates me to volunteer at our clinic. There are many state programs to help children and disabled adults, but there are not any other safety net programs in our community that try to meet the needs of working adults without insurance benefits. Most of the time, these heads of households are using all their available funds just to feed, clothe, and house their families. Prior to our Free Clinic, if their health began to deteriorate, they had no options but to continue to work and finally end up in the emergency room. Now with help from our volunteers, these patients can stay healthy and keep their families going.

I know how important my family is to me, I know that the families of our patients at the Free Clinic are just as important to them. By volunteering at the Free Clinic of Rockingham County I can do what I can to keep families healthy in our community. I have shared my gifts that I have been so fortunate to gain. The heartfelt thank-you from my patients at the Clinic are their gifts back to me.