Spotlight on Service: DuPage Community Clinic
DuPage County, Illinois is often thought of as an affluent segment of the Chicago metropolitan area; and it might not be obvious that there are many county residents who need health care, yet do not have health insurance. Immigration, relocation of city residents, and the growth of the service economy that resulted from the real estate boom of the mid 2000’s, have all combined to result in a larger number of middle to lower income residents in the county, many of whom lack healthcare coverage.
The DuPage Community Clinic is a vital resource for these residents, and for the county. Leveraging the skills and efforts of many volunteers and trainees in healthcare fields, the clinic provides free healthcare to any resident without health insurance. This includes acute and primary medical care, dental services, and behavioral health services, serving 5,000 DuPage County residents last year.
Several of my students from Adler School of Professional Psychology (as well as students from a number of other counseling and psychology graduate training programs) have served as volunteer trainees and interns at the clinic, providing psychological and counseling services. Linda Pfeifer, who now serves as the clinic’s volunteer coordinator, has been a colleague of mine in the Northern Illinois Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association, and we are both currently board members of that organization.
You can help the clinic by exploring volunteer opportunities and by considering a donation to this worthwhile organization. If you are a healthcare professional, your volunteer services are needed and would be appreciated. Volunteers with the ability to speak any of the numerous languages spoken in DuPage County are especially needed. Please see the clinic’s web page for current volunteer needs.
If you are in a position to make a donation to this organization – one that provides an important service to your neighbors and your community – a contribution in any amount to assist the DuPage Community Clinic would provide valuable help.
Spotlight on Service: DuPage Community Clinic by Fitzgerald Counseling is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.