By Anita Ruff, Executive Director, Oasis Free Clinics
Boy, there is a lot going on right now. Both close to home and further afield, it is a constant swirl. Colds, flu, and norovirus have plagued our small team as have a disproportionate number of broken bones. People are worried about inflation, how avian flu is affecting the price and availability of eggs, the lack of affordable housing, and the need to stretch an already tight dollar even further. Add to it confusion over new federal directives, uncertainty about our financial futures, and a general feeling that folks are barely hanging on.
I’ll be honest; I’m struggling, too.
It pains me that initiatives supporting inclusion and equity are being targeted and eliminated. Oasis was founded on the idea that healthcare should be available to everyone, not just those with higher incomes, better literacy, and who aren’t “from away.” That’s being inclusive. We don’t think it is a radical act to provide care for our neighbors who need help; in fact, we think it is our responsibility.
Health equity means that everyone has a fair opportunity to be as healthy as possible. That’s what we do every day at Oasis, making sure that the people we serve has a fair chance to achieve their best health. By doing that, we help people show up to work, be present for their loved ones, and feel good about themselves. How is that controversial or a bad thing for our community?
I keep thinking about the phrase, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” It gets tossed around often during conversations about helping others. I decided to look it up to see how it is defined. Here’s what I found: “without help from other people: as a result of one’s own hard work.”
Taking aside the “result of one’s own hard work” piece for a second (I’ll get to that), I ask in all sincerity – Who among us can say that we have accomplished anything without help from other people? Most of us have friends, family, co-workers, a teacher or a boss who lent a hand, gave us advice, and sometimes the occasional loan when necessary. We humans need each other, and we shine when we show up for our neighbors.
As for the part about “a result of one’s hard work,” I can get on board with that – to a degree. I wish that hard work on its own equated good fortune. However, I know a lot of people who work hard and still can’t get ahead. I’m talking two or three jobs, 10-12 hour days of lifting, bending, serving, and carrying.
My sister is like that. She is very smart, funny, and good with people. She probably has dyslexia, but back in the 1970s, no one talked about that. She struggled in school, barely graduating. Since then, she has always had at least two jobs, mostly factory or service industry work, and her body at 58 has suffered injuries, illness, and stress in a way that most of us won’t experience. She has been trying to pull herself up by her bootstraps since she was 18. The problem is what she started with was insufficient for success. In other words, her boots had giant holes, leaked, and didn’t have shoe laces, so despite doggedly trying to pull them up, they were never going to get her far.
We have patients like that, too. They are serving you coffee, pulling in your lobsters, and mowing your yard. And most of them are doing their darnedest to make do with the boots they have (if they even have boots at all).
What happens every day at Oasis isn’t political or revolutionary. It’s people who live in our community who offer compassion, care, and kindness to other people who live in our community. We are just trying to lighten the load of our neighbors so they can have the healthiest life possible – for themselves, their families, and their own neighbors.
Oasis Free Clinics is a non-profit, no-cost primary care medical practice and dental clinic, providing exceptional, patient-centered care to uninsured members of our community. For more information, please call 721-9277 or visit www.OasisFreeClinics.org.
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