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Volunteers in Medicine of
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TOGETHER WE HEAL |
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Giving Thanks |
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Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and to be grateful for what we have. While many of us have much to be thankful for, there are others around the world who are not so fortunate. From conflicts and violence to devastating poverty, many families struggle to access food, medical care, and other necessities. Our work reminds us that in our own communities, there are thousands of families here in the United States who do not have enough to put food on the table or shelter to keep warm over the holidays. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming to know how to help in ways that can make meaningful and positive changes in the world. VIM-NH's mission addresses the small ways each individual can help to make a difference in our own backyard. Our goal is to meet the healthcare needs of the community with the support of dedicated and experienced healthcare volunteers. We strive to do our part alongside our partners in caring for those most in need and lives marginalized by a complex socio-economic system that creates barriers for equal access to quality healthcare.
January, 2024 will be our one year anniversary. All of us at VIM-NH are thankful for this past year of growth and connection. We are eternally grateful to our friends and family, donors, supporters, collaborators, partners, board members, and our volunteers.
About Volunteers in Medicine of New Hampshire (VIM-NH) VIM-NH is a mobile free clinic whose mission is to provide free healthcare to uninsured and underinsured families of New Hampshire. VIM-NH engages and mobilizes volunteer healthcare providers to offer primary care and acute care in places more easily accessible to underserved patients such as shelters and community centers, We have held evening clinics twice a month at the Cross Roads House Shelter in Portsmouth, NH since January 10, 2023. |
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Giving Tuesday is right around the corner and we need your help to celebrate VIM-NH's one year anniversary. Without the generous support from many of you reading this newsletter, we could not have launched this grassroots non-profit free clinic. As a small, free clinic, everything from administration to clinical operations is accomplished by volunteers. We strive to keep fundraising costs and time to a minimum, making our end-of-year online fundraisers extremely valuable.
Tents and Sleeping Bags Needed This year please consider designating your gift to purchase tents, sleeping bags and basic survival items for patients who are on the street, unable to find placement in a shelter, due to a long waiting list. Dr Johnson worked on the Mobile Health Van for Families First this week and met a 31yo woman who had her tent and belongings stolen and is sleeping on the streets in this cold and wet weather in Rochester. This patient's story was heart breaking. Many of the resource organizations were out of tents. Please designate 'tents/supplies' in the comments of your donation. We plan to share these items among other organizations in the area, as we serve the same patient population. Thank you so much for considering us this Giving Tuesday! Happy Thanksgiving. |
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September 30, 2023 - VIM-NH's First Dental Day of Caring |
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VIM-NH's first Dental Day of Caring provided free dental care with the help of Dr. Swanson, Dr. Judge, Dr. Harrison and Dr. Goslee, in addition to five dental assistants, a front desk worker, and several volunteers including Dr. Johnson. Thanks to Seacoast Online, we luckily had some press prior to the event.
Dr. Johnson recruited patients from Families First Primary Care, the Mobile Health Van, Cross Roads House, and Lamprey Health. The dentists saw a total of twelve patients in half a day, and performed nineteen extractions, ten fillings and one root canal in addition to many X-rays, totaling $11,000 in services. This effort was truly collaborative and the volunteer spirit of the four generous dentists was incredible! Dr. Judge even flew in from another state just for the day to keep his promise to volunteer! Grateful. |
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GRANITE STATER AWARD FOR DENTAL DAY OF CARING To top off this successful event, Dr Johnson and Dr Swanson were pleasantly surprised and honored to be awarded the Granite Stater award from Senator Hassan’s office for the month of October. Here is the press release.
This Dental Day of Caring was made possible by the volunteer dentists, dental staff, and the collaborators who allowed us to connect with their patients, and also thanks to VIM-NH volunteers who provided the logistics.
Senator Hassan launched the "Granite Stater of the Month" initiative in 2017 to recognize outstanding New Hampshire citizens who go above and beyond to help their neighbors and make their communities stronger. |
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Meet a VIM-NH Team Member |
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Linda Xiong, MD 3rd year resident We are so excited to welcome our first set of internal medicine residents from the Portsmouth Regional Hospital/Tufts University School of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program. They are volunteering their hours at the clinic (not fulfilling any requirements) to learn more about community medicine, and this is incredibly admirable as their schedules are extremely busy.
Areen Haddadin, MD 2nd year resident (pictured to the left) Areen is an internal medicine resident working with us to have more exposure to care for the underserved. We are so excited and honored to be working with residents!
Catherine Buell, DO 2nd year resident Catherine joined us as a 2nd year resident, already having had experience volunteering at a free clinic. Welcome! |
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Tory Jennison, RN, PhD - new board member Tory and Dr Johnson met at the Warming Center in Somersworth, which is an emergency overnight winter shelter. We are very excited for Tory to join our board. She comes with a wide variety of experiences in nursing, public health, and coordinating access to quality healthcare for vulnerable populations in the state. Welcome! |
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Ways You Can Help |
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There are many ways you can help VIM-NH, a 501(c)3 organization. You can volunteer in many capacities, spread the word through social media, or start a fundraiser for us at your school or work.
Share this newsletter generously!
For more information please visit our website at vimnh.org and follow us on facebook at www.facebook/vimnh. |
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Volunteers in Medicine of New Hampshire PO Box 962 Newfields, NH 03856 Email: rjohnson@vimnh.org |
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