New Website for Bennington Free Clinic

Visit the new website for the Bennington Free Clinic, part of the Greater Bennington Area Interfaith Community Services, Inc.  Learn about medical services to persons in need, ways to volunteer and donate, and more!

Visit www.benningtonfreeclinic.org today!

Bennington Free Clinic Opens!

Free clinic is part of a trend

MARK E. RONDEAU, Staff Writer

Friday, January 16

BENNINGTON — The Bennington Free Clinic began seeing patients Thursday, the day after a gala opening ceremony attended by about 200 people. The clinic is located in the Nichols Education Building of the First Baptist Church, at 601 Main St. It currently consists of one examining room and supporting areas on the ground floor. The clinic officially opened Wednesday with a celebration featuring chamber music, comedy by Rabbi Bob Alper of Manchester, speakers and a toast and ribbon cutting.

"This is a very difficult time for so many people, but at the same time it's also a time of hope, because of some of the people in this room who have helped make this clinic a reality," said Charlie Gingo, Bennington County field director of the Vermont Agency of Human Services. "You are a beacon of hope."

The idea originated with Dr. Richard Dundas, an internist who has practiced medicine in Bennington for 35 years. The not-for-profit free clinic is a program of The Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc., an entity of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Council. Dundas is the clinic's medical director, and was set to see six patients on Thursday.

The clinic will provide free primary health care, referral, care management and wellness education to uninsured adult residents of Bennington County and the surrounding area who are within 250 percent of the federal poverty level. The clinic will be open on Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. Clinic hours will be changed periodically to meet the needs of patients.

The local medical community has donated medical equipment for the clinic. Plans are already underway to renovate more space for the clinic across the hall from the examining room. Dundas said 40 local doctors have volunteered to help out at the clinic on a case-by-case basis: "I don't know of any other town where half of the medical staff in the community would volunteer to work in a free clinic, so I really applaud our doctors here."

"In addition to that we have numerous nurses, social workers, psychologists — many, many people from all walks of life in medicine who have volunteered to help," he said. "And we have a large number of non-medical people as well who will help us with the running of the clinic."

One in every six adults between the ages of 18 and 64 in Bennington County — more than 3,500 people — do not have any health insurance. Some 89 percent of county residents without health insurance live in working families; more than 50 percent work full-time and year-round, according to clinic literature.

Volunteer intake staff at the clinic will screen patients for eligibility for state medical insurance programs including Medicaid, Catamount Health Care and the Vermont Health Access Plan, and will assist them with applications as needed.

Clergy from faith communities of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Council are available on a rotating basis to provide pastoral care. Dundas said the idea for a free clinic had been stalled until he started discussing it with Sue Andrews, who is coordinator of the Interfaith Council's Food and Fuel Fund, also part of the Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc. "I floundered around for several months before Sue decided to help us out," he said. Andrews, who is now also coordinator for the clinic, brought the idea to the Interfaith Council last year.

"Several months ago, now, we began a dream that was fascinating, engaging and somewhat, almost scary," said the Rev. Jerrod Hugenot of the idea for a free clinic. He is coordinating minister at First Baptist and hosted the celebration. "Could the Interfaith Council rethink itself and do more?"

"I give thanks for Dr. Dundas and his witness and his dedication as a medical provider," Hugenot said.

The clinic is affiliated with the Vermont Coalition of Clinics for the Uninsured, which has nine free clinics throughout the state. The Bennington clinic is now the 10th, and it will get operating funds from the state through VCCU. The clinic is also affiliated with the group Volunteers in Medicine, based in South Carolina. The Bennington clinic has already received several grant awards, private donations and is seeking donations from community members.

Dundas, who received a standing ovation at the opening celebration, said that despite what he's read and heard, it wasn't his dream to open a free clinic in Bennington.

"To the contrary, it has been my dream that I would never have to open a free clinic, because we would all have health insurance," he said. "Essentially, we all felt obligated — all of us involved — because our nation, its people and its government, can't get health care right."

In the U.S., some 45 million people do not have health insurance, Dundas said. "We know these citizens are people that delay their care because they can't afford care, and sometimes the delay is harmful. We need to change our system," he said. "So until we citizens and our government smarten up, we will be here to try to help the uninsured. It's a community thing that needs to be done, and we are going to try to do it."

Those eligible for care at the Free Clinic do not have health insurance; have catastrophic-only health insurance that does not pay for preventative or primary care; and meet the clinic's income guidelines.

For more information, call 802-447-3700. Appointments are preferred. Walk-ins will be seen as time permits. The clinic's e-mail address is bennfreeclinic@gmail.com.

Press release: Bennington Free Clinic to be dedicated January 14

BENNINGTON — All in the community are invited to celebrate the grand opening and dedication of the Bennington Free Health Clinic on Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the clinic's offices at the First Baptist Church, 601 Main St., in downtown Bennington.

Tours of the clinic and volunteer opportunities will be offered throughout the evening. Operations for the clinic will begin the following evening, Thursday, Jan. 15.

The Bennington Free Health Clinic represents the realization of a longtime dream of Dr. Richard Dundas, an internist with 34 years of service treating Bennington-area patients. Along with the Greater Bennington Area Interfaith Council, Dundas has created a free health clinic that will offer care and consultation for uninsured adults.

Guests invited to the Jan. 14 celebration include Governor James Douglas, state legislators, local area officials, and the clergy and lay representatives of the Bennington Interfaith Council. At 6 p.m., formal remarks will be offered by visiting dignitaries as well as by Dundas, who will be the clinic's medical director, and Rabbi Joshua Boettiger, chairman of the Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc.

At least 40 area medical professionals have come forth as willing to donate their time to the Bennington Free Health Clinic. A number of lay people will also be volunteering

their time to assist with other operational needs. Sue Andrews, manager of the Interfaith Council's community services, is the coordinator of the clinic's administrative work. The Bennington Free Clinic is affiliated with the Vermont Coalition of Clinics for the Uninsured and Volunteers in Medicine.

As part of its historic service to the community, he Greater Bennington Area Interfaith Council has accepted the challenge to partner with the Free Health Clinic. In late 2008, the council voted to amend the bylaws of their 501(c)3 organization, long known as "The Food & Fuel Fund," to continue the critical work of providing funds for area residents with housing, fuel, or food needs, while expanding the mission and governance of the non-profit to include new initiatives such as the Free Health Clinic. The Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc. will now serve as the 501(c)3 organization's title, reflecting the council's shift from benevolence work to a wider, more grassroots, approach to addressing vital community needs.

To learn more about the clinic or to volunteer your time and talents, call 447-3700 or write to The Bennington Free Clinic, 601 Main St., P.O. Box 702, Bennington, VT 05201. The Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services Inc., is a registered 501(c)3 charitable non-profit organization. Donations in support of the new clinic are welcome via the address above.

To request an appointment, call 802-447-3700. Advance appointments are preferred, but walk-ins will be seen as staff are able to accommodate.

Free Clinic to Open at First Baptist January 2009

Free health clinic will open at First Baptist

MARK E. RONDEAU, Staff Writer

BENNINGTON - A free medical clinic will be opening in mid-January at the First Baptist Church building on Main Street.

The clinic will open by mid-January. Sue Andrews, manager of the Interfaith Council's Food and Fuel Fund, said that she and Dr. Richard Dundas, a longtime local physician who is retiring, began discussing the idea early this year.

The Interfaith Council voted in June to support and advance the concept.

The free clinic fits with First Baptist's desire to make full use of its sizable Main Street facility, which was built in 1965, when church membership was much larger, according to the Rev. Jerrod Hugenot, interim intentional minister at First Baptist. "When they were looking for facility space, they knew First Baptist was hoping to refurbish some of its space for community betterment," he said.

The clinic is intended to serve those without health insurance, an estimated 3,500 adults ages 18 to 64 in Bennington County. Children under 18 are covered by the state, and poor adults are covered by Medicaid.

However, those who fall into the category of the working poor - many ironically working in the health care field - cannot afford health insurance. Others may work part time or work for small employers who cannot afford to offer employees heath insurance. Even some of those who are not below the poverty level may not be able to buy into health insurance, Andrews said.  A benefit of the Main Street location is that many potential clients of the free clinic do not have vehicles and may be able to walk to the site.

To date, 28 local physicians have expressed interest in volunteering for the free clinic in some capacity, she said. As yet, Andrews has no official title with the clinic, describing herself jokingly as "chief cook and bottle washer."

She said that the intent is to show clients "radical hospitality," so in addition to taking care of health needs, the intent is to sign them up for aid programs they may not know they are eligible for, such as food stamps.

The not-for-profit clinic already is having success raising funds, with grants approved from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, the Stratton Foundation and the Merchant's Bank Foundation. Other grants will be forthcoming, Andrews said. Donations from the public are also welcome, she added.

A missional vision

According to officials at First Baptist, the congregation has been looking at ways to make itself relevant to the times and use its large facility for community betterment. "Baptists are mission-minded people," Hugenot said. "It's just now we're realizing that the mission field is our backyard, not just far, far away."

The First Baptist facility is connected to the church and is formally known as the Nichols Christian Education Building.   "I think the vision of this was when they built the addition was 300 in church and 200 in Sunday school," Hugenot said while showing this reporter the building. "And that was the euphoria of mid-20th Century mainline Protestant Christendom. It's not to browbeat anybody, it was just nobody got the memo that within 10 years the decline would be on its way."  Today the congregation has 40 to 50 adult members and up to a dozen younger members, he said. Most of the space in the building is not used by the congregation. 

Discerning the church's mission in recent years, congregation members have quietly been taking steps to make the building more accessible and to reach out to the community. In addition to the room on the first floor being renovated for the free clinic exam room, the church has recently added an accessible bathroom and a lift making the second floor accessible to people with disabilities. A contract has been let out to install a new fire alarm system in the building over the winter.

Beyond this, the church has rented space out on the second floor to PAVE's Family Time program, which now meets there. Much additional space is available to be rented to other non-profits. The church will make no profit on the rentals and hopes to offer the spaces at below-market rates.   "What we're looking for here is long-term, sustainable use of the building that creates a kind of non-profit-friendly environment where folks can really flourish here, and the congregation can meet its basic needs to serve the community in a creative fashion," Hugenot said.

Another budding effort at the church is a sewing program started by a member of the congregation teaching low-income people sewing skills.

The church has long hosted two active AA groups and regularly hosted visits by the Red Cross Blood Mobile.

Greg Lewis, the church's moderator, said that between the time when the previous pastor left and the congregation hired Hugenot, church members took a vote to see what route it would take. They could either keep with the status quo or change to an outward-looking congregation. "So we decided to take the lead and become transformed," he said. "We're definitely moving forward, and it's become a missional church."

Wayne Kachmar is an engineer, businessman and a member of the church's trustee board. He has worked with other church members to produce a business plan for the building. "You've got to be realistic," he said. "You've got to think hard about how to do this." Though at times the building has been seen as a yoke around the congregation's neck, it has several things going for it. One is its location on Main Street; another is that it is made of concrete blocks - solid. Now, PAVE and the free clinic amount in a sense to "anchor stores in a charity mall," with the significant benefits for them of relatively low operations costs and easy access in the downtown.  

Love Thy Neighbor: Annual fundraiser in local newspaper

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR:  Clergy seek donations for Food & Fuel Fund

by  Mark E.  Rondeau, religion editor, The Bennington Banner

Published   Saturday, September 6

BENNINGTON — Members of the local interfaith community organization want to raise consciousness of, and funds to alleviate, the critical needs some people are facing at a time when fuel and food costs have risen sharply. During this weekend, clergy and laypeople in the Greater Bennington Area Interfaith Council will be speaking to their congregations about local needs and the council's Emergency Food and Fuel Fund.

The fund has been around since 1973 and was created in response to the oil embargo at that time. Local clergy decided to pool their resources to help those in need. Last year, the fund raised almost $52,000 and distributed the whole amount back to the community, said Sue Andrews, a member of the Bennington Unitarian Universalist Fellowship who coordinates the fund.

Andrews and six other members of the Interfaith Council came to the Banner on Tuesday in an effort to raise consciousness about local need and the fund. The Rev. Jerrod Hugenot, minister of First Baptist Church, said they were trying "to raise the concerns we have for those in our community who are in critical need. And with the fuel prices we already know too well are going to be through the roof in comparison even to last year, we're hopeful that our community as a whole will support everyone through our fund."

Said Rabbi Joshua Boettiger, of Congregation Beth El, "We're talking about the most basic fundamental needs. We're talking about the Food and Fuel Fund being really the last safety net for people who fall through the cracks with the other social agencies in town. ... It's always tight, and so we're gearing up. People have been using the word 'crisis' and anticipating a crisis.  "We had just sent out our annual fund-raising letter, and we're hoping from the pulpit, from the bima, to speak to this need and kind of raise the profile of what the Food and Fuel Fund is," he said.

Said Bain Davis, of the Bennington Society of Friends (Quakers), "Every one of our faith communities has a self-story that we are not only about being faithful people, but we are also a serving people. And that self-story needs to sometimes be pushed a little further to the surface."

Requests for support from the fund, which can come directly from people in need or from referrals from local social service agencies, indicate that need will be particularly heavy this winter. "We have had more requests for food this summer than we have ever had in the past," Andrews said. "So if we're having those kinds of requests in the summer, when heating costs are not significant, it's hard to imagine what it's going to be like in the winter."

Last year, about 60 percent of the fund went to support such housing needs as rent, mortgages, security deposits and utility bills. Another 25 percent went to food, household necessities and prescriptions. A smaller percentage went to transitional housing for the homeless. Starting last year, a portion of the fund goes for a stipend for the part-time manger's position.

The fund is seeking monetary donations. Working with such organizations as the state Agency of Human Services and BROC, the fund is able to leverage the funds it collects into more money, Andrews said.

"We all need to look out for our brothers, and if you're in a low-income situation, maybe you can only give a dollar. But you're giving. And I think that's what we hope people will do," she said. At a local crisis team meeting she attended recently, those attending were "concerned about people actually dying in their homes because of lack of fuel. It's going to be that serious a situation."

The problem will not just be the burden of a cold snap over a few days, but people at risk over the whole winter of not having enough fuel to heat their homes — and not enough money for food, or housing, either.

However, Andrews has gone on record that the Emergency Food and Fuel Fund will not be able to pay everyone's bills.

"There are just not enough resources. But there's another whole issue here ... and that is getting people to think about how do they change their behaviors. How do they conserve. How do you prepare for the winter when you know it's going to be this hard," she said. "There's not a person among us who shouldn't have a special savings account for fuel over the summer, but my guess is that very few people actually do that. And especially people in the lower-income situations are people putting away $5, $10, $ 50 dollars a week for that $1,000 fuel bill that's going to happen."

Rev. Anita Schell-Lambert, pastor of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, said that stories in the Bible talk about the miracles that can occur when people pull together and think creatively. "We can do more together than we can do individually," she said. "But it does mean not only more money but it means sacrifices on every person's part and it also means pooling resources, and not just financial resources, but places to stay."

Schell-Lambert spoke of a weatherization workshop coming up to teach people to better insulate their homes and use less so that there will be enough for everyone. "It's not just giving money, but it's changed behavior and thinking how we can work together, partnership with all the different agencies in town." The workshop, organized by the Bennington Energy Committee, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 27, from 1 to 5 p.m. at St. Peter's.

In another initiative, the Food and Fuel Fund is also seeking adult mentors: "We're looking for adult mentors who could pair up one-on-one with people who are in tough financial situations who are at risk basically of losing their housing because of their financial situation," Andrews said. The mentor will be a person with significant life experience, including the practical and financial management of a household. Mentors will take part in a three-session training in September and October. Those interested should call Andrews at 802-379-0149 or e-mail her at sue.andrews@comcast.net.

Donations to the fund may be sent to: Food and Fuel Fund, c/o Congregation Beth El, 107 Adams St., Bennington VT 05201. The Interfaith Council is a 501(c)3 organization and contributions are tax deductible.