Each year, June is nationally recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month and while it serves as a time of celebration for continued acceptance and the accomplishments of the LGBTQ community, it also serves to commemorate years of struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community.
Written by Amy Andrews
Matthews Free Medical Clinic has been providing free, quality healthcare to low income, uninsured patients since 2004. They pride themselves on being a medical home for their patients, offering holistic care and treating every patient with dignity and respect.
Written by Sarah Haylett
The Steve Smith Family Foundation (SSFF), founded by retired Panthers player, Steve Smith, has been providing hope and inspiration to those in need since 2013. SSFF was created to advance the causes close to the Smith family's heart including domestic violence, awareness and prevention, and family health and wellness services.
Written by Sarah Fligel
For Rusty Price, founder of Camino Community Center, it’s the faces of those his organization serves that fuels his passion to help during these difficult times.
Access to care is a gamble right now but for the roughly 168,000 uninsured Mecklenburg County residents this is the norm. Thanks to Charlotte Community Health Clinic patients can continue to be served despite the barriers and fears due to COVID-19.
In fact, the Chief Medical Officer creatively reorganized the staff into different clinical outreach teams: Homeless, Pediatric, Geriatric, Chronic Disease, etc.
The Lake Norman Community Health Clinic has been providing quality healthcare at no cost to uninsured people in Mecklenburg County for 22 years. So when a global pandemic hit home, they didn't miss a beat. In fact, they were so proactive that they were a model to FEMA and clinics in other states for how to best serve patients during an unprecedented health crisis.
In these crazy times, $50 goes a long way. We did some math. $50 could buy you:
A Standard Netflix subscription to binge-watch your favorite shows for 3.85 months (Stretch the dollar even further with a Disney+ subscription for 7.14 months)
An Amazon Prime subscription to aid in retail therapy
A take-out meal for two from a local Charlotte restaurant (don’t forget to tip!)
“He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.”- Thomas Carlyle
The status of our health influences almost every other aspect of our lives, and without good health many things around us tend to crumble- hope included. Luckily, there are local nonprofits that work hard to keep our community, and in particular some our most vulnerable neighbors, cared for and in good health.
