SUPPORTING VOLUNTEERISM IN VIRGINIA’S FREE & CHARITABLE CLINICS Rebecca Butler

SUPPORTING VOLUNTEERISM IN VIRGINIA’S FREE & CHARITABLE CLINICS

Rebecca Butler; VP Marketing, Communications, & Development, VAFCC

Volunteers are the life blood of Virginia’s free and charitable clinics

Virginia’s free clinics have a long history of caring for underserved populations and doing so with compassion, dignity, and respect – and it takes a community to care for communities. Free and charitable clinics function almost entirely with the support of selfless donors and volunteers. Clinics could not provide vulnerable Virginians across the Commonwealth with high-quality care without the incredible support of volunteers. Indeed, clinics depend on a variety of volunteers for healthcare delivery with a volunteer to paid staff ratio of more than 14:1 across the board. Health Brigade in Richmond has around 40 paid employees and hundreds of volunteers. Karen Legato, Executive Director, said they deserve the praise. “We couldn’t do our work without our volunteers because our business model is built on volunteers working side by side with us to deliver our services,” Legato shared.

Who do clinics serve?

Established on the belief that health care is a right and not a privilege, clinics value human dignity and champions access to quality, compassionate healthcare services for all people regardless of race, color, or national origin. In Virginia, four out of five uninsured come from working families. They do not qualify for Medicaid, do not have access to employersponsored insurance, and lack the means to secure a private health plan on their own. Without insurance – and without access to free and charitable clinics – these hardworking individuals and families would struggle to get the care and treatment they need. And when oral care remains unmanaged or untreated, people are often left with the emergency room as their only option for care. This results in a costly and preventable burden on communities.

Connecting directly to volunteer needs in clinics

Realizing the critical role volunteers play as well as the need to support volunteer recruitment, the Virginia Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (VAFCC), which represents more than 60 clinics across the state, created a centralized system for connecting those that are interested in volunteering directly with current needs in free clinics. Charlottesville Free Clinic Executive Director Susan Sherman says volunteers are always in high demand and this new software is a game changer. “It informs potential volunteers from all over Virginia that we’re here, and if we’re not in their vicinity then there’s likely another free clinic in their area where they can volunteer,” Sherman said.

Volunteer Opportunity Board & Directory:

The VAFCC’s Volunteer Opportunity Board allows interested volunteers to locate clinics around the state, connect with current volunteer needs, and register themselves as an interested volunteer. To get started, visit https://volunteer. vafreeclinics.org/. If you have questions or would like more information, please feel free to visit our website or contact me at rbutler@vafreeclinics.org.