My name is Christine and I volunteer at Seattle/King County Clinic every year.
Seattle/King County Clinic is a giant, four-day, free clinic event that provides medical, dental, and vision care, social services, and referrals. Patients come from across the state and beyond. They drive hundreds of miles and wait in line overnight with kids and grandparents and service animals, sleeping in their cars to maximize the number of healthcare services they can cram into four long days. Many have lists of concerns: an infected tooth, broken glasses, a rash, family history of heart disease, an injured finger.
I also work in this field as executive director of Washington Healthcare Access Alliance, Washington’s free clinic association. In my job, I connect with free clinic leaders, analyze data, and track policy. I am acutely aware of the unmet needs in my state and country, and how far this is from an ideal model of healthcare delivery.
I do this work because I believe that even a tiny gesture of kindness can have an impact on someone else. And a big gesture - like providing healthcare to someone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay - might have a profound impact, including on the people who work to provide the care. It’s pragmatism + love.
Working at the Clinic, I see patients I know from more than ten years ago. They are overwhelmingly grateful, gracious, kind, and helpful with each other. Some have become volunteers. And I see other volunteers who have been involved since the Clinic’s first years. Helping staff Seattle/King County Clinic isn’t easy. The days are incredibly long and involve blisters and strangely chapped lips, sleep deprivation, a sore throat, bloodshot eyes, and intense exhaustion. And, every year, I look up and am flooded with gratitude that the event is taking place, and I get to be there. Nothing could be more beautiful and inspiring to me. It’s always one of the best parts of my year and the great promise of what community can be.
Seattle/King County Clinic is a giant, four-day, free clinic event that provides medical, dental, and vision care, social services, and referrals. Patients come from across the state and beyond. They drive hundreds of miles and wait in line overnight with kids and grandparents and service animals, sleeping in their cars to maximize the number of healthcare services they can cram into four long days. Many have lists of concerns: an infected tooth, broken glasses, a rash, family history of heart disease, an injured finger.
I also work in this field as executive director of Washington Healthcare Access Alliance, Washington’s free clinic association. In my job, I connect with free clinic leaders, analyze data, and track policy. I am acutely aware of the unmet needs in my state and country, and how far this is from an ideal model of healthcare delivery.
I do this work because I believe that even a tiny gesture of kindness can have an impact on someone else. And a big gesture - like providing healthcare to someone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay - might have a profound impact, including on the people who work to provide the care. It’s pragmatism + love.
Working at the Clinic, I see patients I know from more than ten years ago. They are overwhelmingly grateful, gracious, kind, and helpful with each other. Some have become volunteers. And I see other volunteers who have been involved since the Clinic’s first years. Helping staff Seattle/King County Clinic isn’t easy. The days are incredibly long and involve blisters and strangely chapped lips, sleep deprivation, a sore throat, bloodshot eyes, and intense exhaustion. And, every year, I look up and am flooded with gratitude that the event is taking place, and I get to be there. Nothing could be more beautiful and inspiring to me. It’s always one of the best parts of my year and the great promise of what community can be.
