Grace Mains, Intern
Vecinos launched a capital campaign on July 15 to help fund the creation of a new Community Health Hub in Franklin. The campaign is slated to last four years with the help of board members, outreach teams, donors and partners.
Vecinos is a free and charitable clinic providing bilingual primary and behavioral health care in Western North Carolina. The clinic has been able to reach farmworkers in eight WNC counties and an additional 8,500 people during the COVID pandemic.
The new health hub, which will be located in Franklin will provide services for the uninsured and low-income population of WNC, specifically the Latinx community.
The launch of the capital campaign featured short introductions from Vecinos’s partners and board members. The outreach teams gave explanations about what they do for Vecinos, and why they must continue to build on what they are doing. The teams include Integrated Care, Farmworker Health Outreach, Community Health Outreach and Community Engagement program.
“We need the space to receive all these people,” said Yolanda Pinzon Uribe, director of Vecinos’ Community Health Program. “To care, build care plans, teach the people one by one.” During the pandemic, Uribe’s team was able to vaccinate 4,000 people and host 5,000 healthcare and education encounters.
Local organizations have partnered with Vecinos to build the Community Health Hub: 30th Judicial District Alliance, Inc., Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic, Centro Comunitario of Macon County and Pisgah Legal Services.
“We are trying hard to put money back in people’s pockets who are struggling to pay for food and gas and health things,” said Jessi Stone, the regional director at Pisgah Legal Services.
To build the hub, Vecinos was given a temporary bridge loan of $1.6 million from Dogwood Health Trust, a non-profit organization based in Asheville, to buy the building. The team needs to raise another $5.6 million to repay the loan and renovate the building. They raised around $95,000 prior to the launch of the campaign.
“We want to make sure that our patients are always as safe as they can be,” said Executive Director Marianne Martinez.
The capital campaign will help fund the renovations of the old Smoky Mountain Systems building on the Hwy. 441 bypass in Franklin. Renovations of the 15,000-square-foot building will begin in the coming months with plans to include six dental operation rooms, six exam rooms, childcare, counseling rooms, a pharmacy, a community room, offices, storage for the outreach teams, Vecinos offices and a large waiting room with direct access to the parking lot. Vecinos plans to not miss a step in helping the Latinx community of WNC.
The hub will not only provide mental and health care for patients but will open new jobs opportunities for healthcare workers and people wanting to take action. Once the hub is complete, Vecinos will be able to serve an additional 2,000 patients, on top of its current 700 patients.
Vecinos will continue their travel healthcare operations for farmworkers and other patients during the hub’s renovations.
For more information, contact Renee Potere, marketing & development director at rpotere@vecinosinc.org or 828-200-6463. If you would like to donate, visit vecinos.org/donate/