I normally don't do this, and I'm sure that PAP smears are the last thing you want to think about when looking at a food blog. However, desperate times call for desperate measures.
At one point in my life I was a huge advocate for Gavin Newsom. Mostly because he is hot but also because he spoke at the UCSF Young Women's Health Conference and consistently donated money to the Women's Community Clinic. Unfortunately, his hotness does not trump the fact that he cut the Women's Community Clinic out of his budget this year!
In one fell swoop, the clinic that I volunteer at, the WCC, lost 20% of its funding. We are all actively writing and emailing the San Francisco Budget Committee members.
Before I go into how I would LOVE you all to help, let me tell you a bit about the clinic that Mayor Newsom so heartlessly cut the funding for.
The Women's Community Clinic, known well in my family for creating the uterus sweatshirt that I wear everyday, is a FREE reproductive health clinic in San Francisco that provides personal, client-centered, informative care to all uninsured women who walk through our door (or younger women who do not want to go through their insurance for confidentiality reasons).
Not only is everyone at the WCC committed to providing exceptional care to our patients, they also put an extraordinary amount of effort into the training of their volunteers. I, as a volunteer at the clinic, have undergone over 40 hours of reproductive health training, which allows me to do client intake, teach women about birth control options, and provide information regarding sexually transmitted infections. Soon, they will be paying for me to go to a week long training in San Francisco that will get me state certified to counsel for and administer HIV tests.
During my training with the WCC, I learned a lot about meeting clients "where they are at" and about providing information to clients in a non-judgmental way. Our passion for our clients' health even seems to rub off on them, just take a look at our Yelp! page:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/CojgU6g_ApTlfgPmkwWmqw
We also have a website:
http://www.womenscommunityclinic.org/
Now, on to what you can do to help:
If you live in San Francisco, find out who your supervisor is by visiting http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_index.asp?id=4385 or Google: San Francisco Board of Supervisors District Information. Then, please write them a letter and send it via snail mail AND email. Please see below for a sample letter.
Even if you don't live in San Francisco (I don't but I'm writing anyway!), please write a letter and send it via snail mail AND email, to Supervisors Chris Daly, Tom Ammiano, Bevan Dufty, Ross Mirkarimi, and Sean Elsbernd. These supervisors are all members of the Budget Committee. If you write to Ross, please start by thanking him for all of his support of the Women’s Community Clinic.
And now, a sample letter. Please feel free to just copy this, or add whatever you like. When sending emails, please copy all emails to our Clinic Director, Carlina Hansen, at carlina@womenscommunityclinic.org. If you need stamps, please contact me and I will gladly set you up with a set of envelopes and stamps:
[Date]
[Supervisor Name]
1 Carlton B Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Dear Supervisor,
I am writing to urge you to restore funding to the Women’s Community Clinic in the amount of $202,785. I am a (supporter, patient, volunteer, board member, staff person) at the Women’s Community Clinic. This funding was approved by the Health Commission to be awarded every year for 4.5 years starting in 2006. Despite this approval, this funding has been cut after one year. [Information about your relationship to the Clinic here and why the City should support us]. The loss of these funds will seriously endanger the 4709 health care visits we provide with this funding to women who would otherwise lack access to care.
The Clinic is providing a vital service to the community by providing free health care services to approximately 2000 women per year and harm reduction based street outreach services to approximately 500 women each year. The Women’s Community Clinic has provided these services to the community since 1999. Each year the Clinic has grown in the number of women they see and in the services that they offer. The Clinic serves women who lack health insurance, 60% of whom fall below 100% of the federal poverty level and the remainder of whom fall below 200% of federal poverty level. The majority of these women fall between the ages 20-35 and their only access point for health care is the care they receive for their sexual and reproductive health needs. The Clinic provides 5000 appointments per year to 2000 women – for many of our clients, the Clinic is their primary care provider. The Clinic is a vital access point for these women to receive much needed care – care that would otherwise be deferred and fall on the City to provide. In many cases, the Clinic is saving women from costly visits to the SFGH emergency department.
The Clinic prides itself on its resourcefulness and peer based, client centered model of care. It relies on over 100 volunteers to provide health care services. Volunteers come from all over the community and are health care providers; RNs, NPs, MDs and acupuncturists in addition to lay volunteers who provide outreach services, health education and act as medical assistants and medical office administrators. They donate more than $300,000 in time each year! Clients consistently comment on how amazing these women are and over 97% of our clients rate their experience at the Clinic as “Excellent” or “Very Good.”
While the Women’s Community Clinic has been successful in fundraising from private sources and leveraging volunteer support, they would NOT be able to do what they do without the support of the City. They receive NO other City funding; the City should support agencies that are efficiently run and who can maximize the return on the City’s investment. They rely heavily on these funds to provide direct health care services to women. I urge you to support this funding being added back to the City’s budget. This is a time that the City is sending a clear statement to the public that health care for the uninsured and underinsured is a priority, it is NOT the time to de-stabilize our provider network. I urge you to continue to manifest this commitment and to support the Women’s Community Clinic in its provision of health care services to women in need.
Sincerely,
[Your Name and affiliation, if appropriate]
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