By Jessica Perkins

November 29, 2011

Give the Gift that Heals

Without a penny of government funding, the St. Nicholas Family Clinic relies 100% on the generosity of people in the community to support their services. This holiday season, “give the gift of health” by donating at least $20 to the clinic. You’ll receive this trendy engraved key necklace as a thank you!

With seven variations to choose from—Hope, Live, Give, Heal, Serve, Love, Free—you can buy a necklace for everyone on your Christmas list! Nineteen dollars and fifty cents of the purchase price goes right back to help patients in eight counties receive good healthcare and medication. Starting this week, purchases can be made online.

Opened in 1994, St. Nicholas provides primary care services for working families who are struggling to get ahead and need medical care.  . These are families who do not qualify for government healthcare programs, but are also unable to afford private healthcare.

Children in Kentucky are covered by government healthcare aid, but in some cases their parents are not. Being sick makes it very difficult to work your way out of poverty. That’s why St. Nicholas Family Clinic is here—to help!

“There are people who fall in the gap between being eligible for government funding and being able to actually afford healthcare, usually in the form of insurance, on their own,” said Brandi Harless, Executive Director. “We fill that gap.”

A family of four, earning a combined household income of $44,700 each year, may not qualify for government healthcare and will likely find it difficult to pay for private health insurance. St. Nicholas steps in and can provide healthcare for this family, as long as at least one family member is working a minimum of 15 hours per week.

The clinic has been a big help to people who have taken in relatives with chronic illness. It has opened the door to healthcare solutions that otherwise would not have been available.

St. Nicholas employs a nurse practitioner. In addition, several doctors volunteer their services on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to help see patients. The clinic schedules 5,500 appointments every year.

When the clinic’s services are not able to fully meet the patient’s healthcare needs, area doctors and hospitals provide their services generously at no charge. When a cost for a particular test is necessary, these healthcare providers will often create flexible payment plans for St. Nicholas patients.

For many of St. Nicholas’s clients, the cost of prescription drugs is four times their annual income, making it impossible for them to purchase the medication necessary to get them back on their feet and working again. The clinic’s Pharmaceutical Assistance Program has allowed St. Nicholas to provide 11,000 prescriptions to clients, this year alone. This clinic distributes $1 million in medication donated by pharmaceutical companies every year.

“People need to be healthy in order to have the opportunity to get out of poverty,” said Brandi.

Get Involved

Everyone can be involved in the fight against poverty. Here are a few ways to help!  Here are a few fun ways to get involved:in the coming months:

• Host a dinner party! Invite a group of your friends over and raise money for St. Nicholas. It’s easy to help and won’t cost you a fortune to be involved.
• Volunteer! St. Nicholas always needs volunteers such as clerical staff, nurses, pharmacists, and doctors.
• Help with Hands on St. Nick, a spring cleaning project at the clinic.  hey need 40-50 volunteers to make this happen.

Email Brandi Harless for details.

St. Nicholas Family Clinic is a United Way Agency serving Ballard, Fulton, Carlisle, Hickman, Livingston, McCracken and Marshall Counties in Kentucky, and Massac County in So. Illinois. The clinic is located at 1901 Kentucky Avenue.