KC Free Health Clinic

This week was the KC Free Health Clinic at Barttle Hall. We saw around 2300 patients and had to turn away a couple of hundred. I had the privilege of volunteering for this event. I am so lucky. I was able to help many people receive health care that they as human beings DESERVE!!! (yep that is the correct adj to use!) They came in for so many different reasons. Most hadn't been to the Dr in so long(one man it had been 10 years), that they just needed to get the things their kids or their friends had been bugging them about checked out. I saw a college student, who couldn't be on her parents insurance any longer. I saw a man who had his eye on a coveted job, but had been passed over once before because he needed a physical, but couldn't get one without insurance (he can't get insurance without a job) we happened to be here just in time. I saw a man in his late 30's who had been putting off being seen for a very bad tooth infection, and was able to finally get relief by having it pulled. I could go on for 2 days about the people that I saw.

The bottom line is this...I saw PEOPLE. Every type of person, not just one. There are people out there who may not be grateful for help that is given to them, but not most of these people. I heard more times than I can count "Thank you so much," "You don't know how much this means to me" and "I am so glad you came here today to help me." These are not the sounds of ingratitude.

One interaction will always stand out to me though. As I was leaving on night 2, I was going down the escalator to head to the garage. In front and below me was a tired mom leaving with her young toddler. They had multiple layers on to help them keep warm, and it was obvious that they had been waiting a lot that day in order to finally get seen by a dr for her and her daughter. As I walked passed them when exiting the escalator, the mom turned to me and said in an exhausted/grateful mom tone "Thank you so much, please have a good evening". Wow! that said so much to me. I have a great job, so does my husband, and we both have great health insurance. I may gripe about having to take my kids to an appointment too near nap time or having to wait an hour prior to being seen. I am ashamed of myself. I have so many blessings. I am sad that we can't all be treated with the same respect that we demand of ourselves. Why can't we live in a country that values the human factor more than the greed factor?