Hidden Gem
I belong to a local service organization in my home town and we often have guest speakers that come to our Wednesday night dinner meetings and share information of how their organization helps our local community. Usually the speaker discusses a topic or shares information about their organization that the rest of us are all familiar with but in our last meeting, almost all of us in attendance were pleasantly surprised to learn of a local, little hidden gem. Our guest speaker, Marilyn Sasser (Executive Director), of the Oxford Free Clinic came to our meeting to share not only who they are but to also share about the people they serve.
The Oxford Free Clinic (also called the Oxford College Corner Clinic) provided services for around 400 patients last year and expect to come close to those same numbers for 2016. Even though they are based out of Oxford, Ohio they serve patients from all over Butler and Preble counties in Ohio as well as Franklin and Union counties in Indiana. The clinic is comprised of over 40 volunteers that take time to see patients on the first three Wednesdays of the month. Their home office is based out of McCullough-Hyde Hospital in Oxford but they see patients in their different locations. The mission of the clinic is pretty straight forward and gives a good explanation of what they do and who they serve.
“Our mission is to reach the chronically ill, especially those with congestive heart failure, diabetes, or hypertension, and those who have significant monthly medical costs. We want to enable area residents to follow their prescribed course of treatment.”
It was inspiring to hear Mrs. Sasser share the success stories of the patients she and the volunteers of the clinic are able to help through their selfless acts of helping their community. With a number of physicians, nurses, and community/student volunteers the clinic is able to help those who just can’t afford the medication that they need for proper health. One of my favorite stories she shared was about a patient who was diabetic and couldn’t afford the proper medication. Because of poor health, this individual couldn’t work and was struggling with public assistance. But now that this individual has proper medication to manage their diabetes, their health has improved to such a point that they are now working full time. The clinic was able to literally turn this individual’s life around and help give them the boost they needed to become self-sufficient. You can check out more about the Free Clinic at their website: http://www.oxfordfreeclinic.org/home.html
There are hundreds of people in our local communities, be it Richmond, Connersville, Brookville, etc… who give their talents, time and money to help our neighbors all around us each and every day. I encourage you search yourself to see if there is something that you feel you might be able to offer to help in your community. Not everyone can be an MD, RN or even a CNA, but I bet if you looked and asked, there will always be a spot for someone to answer phones or pass out flyers. Maybe they need help in a free clinic in your home town or maybe it’s something as simple as visiting the local nursing home to visit with the residents and share an encouraging word, we can all do something. I encourage you to get involved and see what difference you can make in making a better life for someone else…remember, we are all in this together.
Thanks for reading,
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
besthomecareservices@comcast.net