The Helping Hands Clinic
Gainesville Medical Clinic Seeks Volunteers, Donations
Additional Images
Photo by Elizabeth Behrman
Helping Hands director and co-founder Randy Stacey stands just inside the door of the First United Methodist Church. He and his wife Cynthia founded the clinic 20 years ago.
The Helping Hands clinic celebrates its 20th anniversary on November 12. For the past two decades, the clinic has provided medical care to the members of the community who are a little down on their luck.
Every Monday, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., people line up for their turn to see one of the volunteer doctors or nurses. Patients come to be treated for minor ailments, such as skin, foot or respiratory problems. In addition to medical services, the clinic provides acupuncture, psychiatric and social work.
Director of the Helping Hands clinic Randy Stacey founded the clinic 20 years ago with his wife, Cynthia. It was held for about 15 years in the Salvation Army building, and moved about five years ago to the First United Methodist Church. When the clinic moved, the volunteers and patients followed."It worked well," Stacey said. "We came in, passed the word and just started with the people there."
Now, in addition to the regular, medical clinic, Helping Hands has recently formed a women's clinic that is held every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The women are able to take a shower, have a nice meal and socialize with other women.
"They are thoroughly enjoying themselves relaxing in a safe place with other women," said Mary Kilgour, a volunteer for the clinic. As a sovereign immunity officer she has no medical training, but can provide volunteer health care without the danger of malpractice charges.
Stacey and the other volunteers who helped with the creation of the clinic were working in the Veterans Hospital and decided to start a clinic for the poor and homeless members of the community. Similar clinics in other cities had been successful, and they thought it would be nice to start something locally.
"It's a group that has so little and needs everything," Stacey said. "Being able to provide health care, we just thought would be a very good thing to do."
Kilgour has been helping out at the clinic once a month for the past couple of years. She spent 19 years living in the Third World as a foreign service officer working on development projects.
"The people that come to the clinic are very courteous, they're appreciative," Kilgour said. "They're a good group to support and they've kept me involved."
On average, about 35 people come to the clinic on Monday nights. Kilgour said this is a good thing, because some people sit for hours in a waiting room and use the emergency room for their primary care. While the clinic may not always be able to handle severe medical emergencies, they can call an ambulance for patients or refer them to a specialist if necessary.
"Sometimes these folks line up at three o'clock and 2:30 to get in first for a clinic that starts at 4:30," Kilgour said.
Because the clinic is completely dependent on volunteers to do the check-ins, treatments and exams, the staff hopes to promote more community awareness for its 20th anniversary. Helping Hands will host a celebration on Nov. 12 for its current volunteers.
"We're really hoping to use it to get ourselves out there for some of the providers in the community and recruit some more volunteers," Stacey said.
The clinic primarily needs volunteer physicians, nurses, social workers and psychiatrists. Kilgour said it is the perfect philanthropic opportunity for doctors and nurses who are about to retire, but understands it can be expensive to upkeep a physician's license.
"As long as they have a license, there's a need for them," Kilgour said. "It's a very worthwhile thing to do."
Kilgour said they are trying to form an all-woman staff for the women's clinic on Thursdays.
Although there are numerous medical students from UF who handle check-ins and paperwork, the clinic can also use people who are willing to organize clothing and blanket drives and to make donations.
A complete needs list is available on the Helping Hands Web site, but some much needed items include hygiene products, batteries, books, clothing and reading glasses. Volunteers distribute these items during clinic hours.
Kilgour said that there is a great need for these items, even if they are donated second-hand. She said that one day, while she was helping a patient fill out his paperwork, he could not even see where to sign his name on the forms because his vision was so poor. She provided him with donated reading glasses. She said it was great to watch the reaction on his face when he put them on and could actually see what was on the page.
"Something as simple as someone's leftover, second-hand pair of reading glasses can make a world of difference," she said. §
Elizabeth Behrman is a student in UF's College of Journalism and intern at Tower Publications. She may be contacted through the editor. editor@towerpublications.com
Info:
Helping Hands provides a medical clinic and women's clinic for Gainesville's poor and homeless population.
First United Methodist Church, 419 NE 1st Street, Gainesville
Mondays, 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Thursdays 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
352-372-8523 x17
For more information on volunteer opportunities or on the clinic in general, visit the Helping Hands Wed site at hhcg.org.
