On Oct. 8 2016, Grace Lutheran Church set up space for Medical Mission Adventures, whose mobile medical clinic and optical vans you may have seen parked in front of the church on Overland Avenue. Ken Smith and Cindy Lundquist were the church volunteers who made this happen, and many needy people are in better health today because of the MMA.
Even with Obamacare, there are still many who can’t reach the safety net of health insurance. With a total of 37 Non-clinical volunteers and 10 Clinical volunteers including RN’s, Physician’s, Dentists, Dental assistants, Optometrists and their assistants, the one-day pop-up clinic was able to treat 56 patients that received a total of 170 to 180 different services during the day. All of the patients saw a nurse and had a complete examination done prior to seeing the Doctor and/or Dentist about their specifics.
That is a lot of healing.
MMA teams focus on the medical, dental and vision needs of the underserved in the Southern California region, as well as responding to natural disasters in all parts of the world to provide basic medical services. Grace Church and Grace Diner volunteers were headed up by Ken Smith and Cindy Lundquist.
The Doctors treated wounds as well as chronic diseases. They also wrote prescriptions which were filled at no charge to the
patients. The Dentist did extractions, fillings and cosmetic dentistry. If the patient needed glasses, their eyes were tested and they picked out the frames they wanted. The finished glasses will be available to be picked up in about 3 weeks. In addition patients were given readers and sunglasses at no charge.
The volunteers checked the patients in and made sure they got to the right place at the right time. In addition they served healthy snacks, water, homemade cookies, etc. during the day in the upstairs Parish Hall. There were sandwiches and salad provided by Sorrento Market, as well as coffee, bagels and homemade cookies provided by Joanie Maines.
All in all, it was a great day. All of the volunteers asked if we are going to do this again next year as they definitely want to be a part of it again. It’s the church’s goal to have this as an annual event. Lundquist offered that “We’ve already begun the process and are hopeful we can get even more Clinical volunteers so we can serve more of the under-served in our community.”
Thanks Judith. This clinic was co-sponsored by Grace Lutheran Church, and Grace Diner which provides a free dinner to 100 or so homeless and under-served members of our community every Monday night. Grace Diner has been doing this for over 7 years and has served over 20,000 meals during that period.