The Maliheh Free Clinic is such an amazing resource for the medically underserved in our community. Matt and I have been volunteering there every Wednesday. I love it. I just started a month ago or so but Matt has been volunteering there for about five months. He also just got an internship there this summer for school. I am so excited for him. It’ll be a great experience for P.A. school. He wants to be a physician assistant so we are grateful for the experience that he’s been able to obtain there.
So, yesterday, I was finishing up my shift there when a lady knocked on the glass doors after we were closed. She spoke very broken English. She was Persian and speaks Farcy. I went out to her to let her know that we were closed. She told me in her broken English that she had been on our waiting list for a year. She said that she was having a serious health problem and that she had no insurance. She started to cry and she said, “Please help me.” I brought her inside and we were able to set up an appointment for the next day. The miracle was that one of our volunteers was also Persian and was able to interpret for her. It was such a miracle to me that the Farcy speaking volunteer was there. She volunteered to come in the next day so that she can interpret for the Persian lady again. The lady was so grateful.
I just love the Maliheh Free Clinic. It’s a really amazing place and they do so much. All of the patients are low-income and have no medical insurance. I can’t even imagine having no insurance and having to worry about money so much. I am so grateful for our jobs and for our insurance. It’s sad to see so many people who slip through the cracks of our healthcare system. I don’t approve of a lot of the obamacare reforms that were passed by congress for different reasons, but I don’t have the answer for what needs to happen. It’s just such a complicated problem. Our waiting list is almost a year long.
I’m grateful for Free Clinics like the Maliheh Clinic that can provide these essential services to the medically underserved in our community. I love the doctors, PA’s and all of the volunteers that give so much of their time there. It’s been a lot of fun, especially because I get to work with Matt again.
Chasing Sunsets and Dreams 