Support Our Mobile Clinic: Save Lives Today

On the day we heard that DOGE (The Department of Government Efficiency) gutted the public health system (firing CDC, NIH, and rolling back state grants), we saved a life. We found him in a diabetic coma. In his home. On the sidewalk. John (name changed) was homeless. It was a cold day in March, so he was hypothermic too. He stayed in the hospital for 2 days and was discharged back to the sidewalk. It wasn’t the first time we saved someone. Once it was with NARCAN. Another time we called the police so she could report her domestic abuser. He had broken her eye socket.

We are a mobile clinic.

We started in 2021 providing COVID vaccines and education. Our clinic is in an RV and is a program of the Reformed Church in Highland Park-AHC. We have grown into so much more than a COVID clinic. Our team of health professionals screens for hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and mental health. We do testing for COVID, FLU A and B, STREP, and PPDs for tuberculosis. We give FLU vaccines and first aid. We serve the most vulnerable: the uninsured, homeless, chronically mentally ill, homebound elders, postpartum mothers, migrant workers, and factory workers. We do food distribution every week for over 200 families. We deliver diapers. And hope. And courage when it’s hard. We have helped hundreds of children with vaccines and PPDs so they could go to school. We work with dozens of other agencies providing medical screening. You know, those agencies on the ground helping immigrants and those in poverty, and many just needing some assistance to get back on their feet. We are the stopgap between the streets and hospitals. We are helping to keep folks out of the ER and from incurring medical debt.

We are a mobile clinic.

We are a public health lab. Students come to learn with us. Some are undergraduates, some are graduate students. Medical students come to engage with the community. We are a compassion incubator.

We are a mobile clinic.

And now we are facing the end of our program. The grant funds have completely dried up as they have for other public health agencies. We are asking for mutual aid. You know, helping each other by caring. So if you have ever gotten a vaccine, or a medical screening, or advice or health education. If your child needed a PPD for school or a vaccine and was scared but we helped to keep them calm. If we ever handed you a sandwich or dressed a wound or talked to you when things were falling apart. If you care about your neighbors without addresses. If you feel that public health is important and want to see it continue. If you believe that the most vulnerable among us need our help. We are asking for your help. We are praying that this fundraiser is our Hail Mary. We want to keep working in the community. Please help if you can. Anything helps. And Love? Love is resistance.