The Free Clinics urgently seeks local partners to share Wi-Fi for patient telehealth access; cotton masks, donations

The Free Clinics urgently seeks local partners to share Wi-Fi for patient telehealth access; cotton masks, donations

(Hendersonville, NC)….30 March 2020…. The Free Clinics urgently seeks community partners to help us care for some of our most vulnerable neighbors. TFC remains open to care for our community, but we are adjusting our services in order to keep patients safe and healthy during the pandemic. One of the changes is that TFC’s group visits (providing medical and behavioral health services for its most vulnerable patients) are moving to a virtual format.

While most TFC clients have smart phones, obtained through special programs for the homeless and economically disadvantaged, they do not have internet access.

TFC asks Hendersonville’s centrally located church and business partners to consider enabling their guest Wi-Fi connections for a specific two hour window once or twice per week so that TFC clients can access their group visits from your parking lots or church/business grounds. The needed days and times are:

  • Monday for Noon Group (11:30 am – 1:30 pm)
  • Tuesday for 1:30 pm Group (1:00 – 3:00 pm)
  • Thursday for Noon Group (11:30 am – 1:30 pm); 3:00 pm Group (2:30 – 4:30 pm); 4:00 pm Group (3:30 – 5:30 pm). 

If you are willing to assist TFC in helping to care for our most vulnerable neighbors during this very challenging time, we would be extremely grateful. We ask that you please call Executive Director Judith Long at 828.697.8422 or email her at info@thefreeclinics.org as soon as possible so that we can inform our patients of their options and continue their care.

TFC also seeks the community’s support. These are challenging times for all of us, especially our neighbors without homes, those living with behavioral health challenges, those who are surviving interpersonal violence. As TFC works to care for our vulnerable neighbors, we are in need of cotton cloth masks, as well as financial support. To make a donation, visit thefreeclinics.org/donate  or call 828.697.8422. To provide cloth masks, please contact Cathy Montgomery, Clinical Services Director at the same number. Checks or masks can also be delivered to The Free Clinics at 841 Case Street, Hendersonville NC, 28792.  Please help us care for our community by keeping our most vulnerable neighbors safe and healthy.

The Free Clinics is changing lives together, with hope and health. Established in 2001, TFC partners with over 230 volunteers and 179 community health care providers to ensure quality, accessible care for over 2,000 of our uninsured, low-income neighbors in Henderson and Polk Counties. TFC programming employs a person-centered model to address acute and chronic conditions, mental and behavioral health, medication access, and other barriers to health for the most vulnerable among us.

03/30/2020

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