Since 2019, thanks to our supporters, Americans Helping Americans® has been providing grant funding to the Community Helping Hands Clinic (CHHC) in White County, Georgia, to support it in its mission to provide free healthcare services to the uninsured and indigent in the county for chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.
During the past 13 months, CHHC reported they have consulted 218 patients and have helped many get the prescription medication they need, or the advice required to live a more healthy life.
With support from Americans Helping Americans®, CHHC is able to provide access to free diabetic supplies, free dental and vision tests, and be referred to a specialist for additional free care.
The need is great in the community were 16 percent lack health insurance, nearly double the national benchmark of 8.8 percent, in the county where there is one primary care physician for every 4,130 residents – 10 times the national average of 435.
Among those treated was a male in his early 50s who has been receiving services at CHHC for about a year when one of its volunteer physicians noticed something was out of line with his liver test results.
Upon questioning him, they discovered he was an alcoholic and confronted him with the information.
Unfortunately, the man cannot afford to enroll in a rehabilitation center, but CHHC doctors have been counseling him on his drinking problem and that effort seems to have reduced his alcohol use and he has stayed sober for quite some time and appears to be on the road to recovery.
The doctors believe that this effort has saved his liver.
He has not yet been diagnosed with cirrhosis, but it has been necessary to drain fluids from his liver at a regional hospital.
CHHC reported that the work of the clinic physicians basically saved the patient’s life.
Without CHHC, county residents with chronic ailments and without health insurance or the financial resources to cover the high cost of medical care would have to seek routine care at the emergency department of hospitals in adjoining counties, or do without care.
In addition, this spring we plan on shipping 2,450 dental kits containing toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss to our grassroots partners in Appalachia and elsewhere to help children keep their teeth and gums clean and healthy while instilling in them at an early age the importance of brushing and flossing on a daily basis.
