Health Clinic Volunteer: Patients don't want 'something for nothing'

I first heard about the NAFC CARE Clinics on an msnbc call for support and immediately signed up to join the Kansas City clinic. I remembering being happy to discover that, having no medical background, I could still help people access much needed medical care. I wasn’t sure whom I expected to see using the clinic, but I was surprised to meet the wide variety of patients in line for the clinic to open that day.I met a recent college graduate who didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the medical check-up required to started his new job; a mother who came to have her children seen by a doctor and was moved to tears when we told her she was welcome to see a doctor that day too, something she hadn’t been able to do in years; a health care worker who worked several part time jobs at hospitals, but had no access to healthcare himself; as well as many others.These patients aren’t a segmented part of our society looking for something for nothing. They are our family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors. They are proof that the fight for affordable and accessible access to health services isn’t over. And they are why I will be at the New Orleans convention center, joining hundreds of medical and non-medical volunteers from all over the country, to continue to make sure all of us have access to healthcare.