My Nonprofit Reviews

It has taken a global pandemic for the world to realize the value of healthcare---as well as the gross socioeconomic disparities surrounding its delivery. We hear every day of the risks that those from lower socioeconomic brackets take as they attend work during COVID as "essential workers." We hear of the increased risk of Hispanic and Black communities to COVID. We hear of the 25% of Texans who are uninsured and unable to afford care.

We hear all of these things, but essential workers still remain unessential enough to warrant health insurance. Hispanic and black communities still remain medically underserved and uneducated. The 25% of Texans without insurance still choose to pay for food instead of health insurance premiums. Individuals from lower socioeconomic brackets ultimately have two choices when they get sick --- take out loans for healthcare or let the sickness run its route. These individuals have always been the most vulnerable, whether it be pre or post-COVID.

Despite all of this great need, Health For All remains the ONLY free indigent clinic in the Brazos Valley. If you do a bit of quick, mildly accurate math, 25% of uninsured Texans make up 57,302 of Brazos County's 229,211 residents. To put that in perspective, a clinic running on grants and donations alone, with one paid healthcare provider and a handful of volunteers, is the sole resource for that population. Even during COVID, the clinic remains open. Despite not even having a full time healthcare provider (her grant ran out a few weekd ago), the clinic still remains open. The needs of the indigent persist through hard and easy times, and Health For All--despite its own hardships--remains stalwart in its duty to provide healthcare for those who need it.

As a volunteer at Health For All during undergrad, I saw daily the important role that the clinic played in promoting health and health education among the indigent community. Whether it be something as simple as providing medications to manage someone's hypertension or getting someone imaging for possible breast cancer, Health For All remains committed to providing care for those in need. As a medical student now, I fullheartedly look forward to volunteering with Health For All again as a practicing physician.