logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | Nonprofit Clinic for the Poor Opens in Affluent Suburb

Rick Cohen
October 7, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

October 6, 2010; Source: Dallas Morning News | The public often views the poor as ghettoized, but in reality poor families can often be found living, sometimes almost invisibly, in wealthy neighborhoods and suburbs, but ironically because of their affluent locations, they don’t have access to the help they need.

But the suburbanization of poverty, particularly in inner ring suburbs, doesn’t mean that the poor don’t need help. In ostensibly (and sometimes ostentatiously) affluent West Plano, Texas outside of Dallas, a hospital, a church, and an existing health clinic in a neighboring community have joined to create a nonprofit clinic for the poor. The East Plano clinic had seen a surge of demand from poor people living in the western part of the county, people without health insurance, often having to make choices between paying medical bills and paying their mortgages.

Open two days a week and staffed by volunteers, the new West Plano clinic will serve people without health insurance with incomes up to 200 percent of the poverty level and charge them $20 for an initial visit and $15 for follow-ups. Of the three partners in this health joint venture, Presbyterian Hospital has committed $40,000 to the clinic and St. Andrew Methodist Church is trying to raise another $40,000.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Interestingly, Collins County officials lauded the creation of the new clinic as an alternative to “some big government approach,” in the words of Commissioner Matt Shaheen. The commissioners had been criticized for being particularly stingy with public funds to help the indigent. The commissioners might be reminded that the poor people living in affluent suburbs cheek to jowl with wealthy families are the county’s constituents and merit the help that a government agency can provide.

The charity-funded West Plano health clinic should be a supplement to, not a substitute for vital government assistance and shouldn’t be used as an excuse by the commissioners to get off the hook.—Rick Cohen

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
5 Land Defense Protests Around the World
Iris Crawford
Turning Toward EV Frontline Communities
Katherine Leah Pace
Muslim Women Are Reclaiming The Narrative
Anmol Irfan
How Policy Is Building a Social Economy in South Korea
Minsun Ji
Nonprofits and Movements: How Do the Two Relate?
Steve Dubb
Human-Centered Design for Behavioral Health
Sonia Sarkar

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.