For people in poverty, free healthcare means they can keep showing up for work, school, and family, and avoid extraordinary medical debt that keeps many in generational poverty. In Macon, many more people in poverty will have access to free medical care because of the expanded Macon Volunteer Clinic, which tripled in size with Episcopal support.
Episcopalians and partners recently celebrated the opening of the expanded Macon Volunteer Clinic, from 4,000 square feet to 11,000 square feet, made possible through a challenge grant from the Diocesan Episcopal Community Foundation for Middle and North Georgia. ECF offered a $13,000 challenge grant if Macon’s Christ Church (the mother church of the Diocese of Atlanta) could match it, and the congregation did.
The clinic is two blocks from Christ Church, and the combined $26,000 was a critical part of the $2.5 million expansion project. In Macon, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and St. Francis Episcopal Church also have supported MVC.
“The churches have all been very supportive of the work we do, and like most churches in our diocese, they’re doing lots of extraordinary work in other areas as well,” said MVC Executive Director John F. McCard, who grew up at Christ Church and still attends. (He is also The Rev. Dr. McCard who served as rector of St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church in Atlanta from 2004 – 2017.) “We’re very, very blessed to be part of their giving.”
More Capacity to Meet a Growing Need
The new clinic location has designated spaces for primary healthcare, dental services, eye care, and mental health counseling as well as space for community health classes. The new downtown location enables MVC to expand its services to eight more counties in central Georgia and will increase accessibility of these services to Middle Georgians who work but cannot afford the high cost of healthcare insurance.
“Roughly 93% of our patient population make less than $35,000 a year,” McCard said. “We’re able to fill a very important need, because about 20% of the population of Georgia is uninsured. As the healthcare landscape changes, which seems to be every day, I think we’ll only see more people. The reality is that health insurance and other costs will be out of reach of many folks who need health care.”
Now in its 23rd year, MVC receives no federal funding. In 2024, it operated through 5,000 volunteer hours and in-kind support that included more than $800,000 in medications and free radiological service from Piedmont Macon Medical Center. “If you give us a dollar, we’ll turn it into $1.50,” McCard said.
“The clinic’s mission, vision, and values, while not religiously based reflect the foundational belief of our diverse group of over 150 doctors, nurse, healthcare workers and students that all human beings are made in the image of God and are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect,” he added.
To him, the new clinic building serves as a chapel, holistically treating all patients as “brothers and sisters in Christ, made in God’s image.”
Funding for Greatest Impact
The $26,000 raised by Christ Church and ECF mainly covered equipment to outfit a new exam room, and that capital expense matched ECF’s purpose and vision: Following Christ’s example and the tradition of The Episcopal Church, we partner with Episcopal communities in the Diocese of Atlanta by providing funding, leadership, and resources to enable Episcopalians to lift up people facing poverty and oppression and to achieve significant, long-lasting change in our communities.
“Breaking the cycle of generational poverty is never going to happen if every time a family turns around, they are burdened with medical expenses and debt,” said ECF Executive Director Lindsey E. Hardegree. “This helps to stop the cycle.”
ECF issued the challenge grant to increase financial impact and strengthen connections between the clinic and Christ Church parishioners, as well as deepen parishioners’ spiritual formation.
“We were specifically matching dollars raised by the parishioners of Christ Church to partner with the local community; this enables us to create a bigger impact than we would have been able to do on our own,” she added.
“It’s exciting for us to give the parishioners something to rally around, so that they’re able to say, ‘Not only are we helping this clinic in our local community, but because we’re a part of the larger, broader community of The Episcopal Church, we’re able to bring in dollars that the clinic would not be eligible for if they didn’t have their partnership with Christ Church.’ This strengthens the relationships and the opportunity for the Episcopalians at Christ Church to have spiritual growth through their service to people who are experiencing poverty and oppression.”
For readers who want to find out more about medical clinics serving the poor where they live, McCard suggested Georgia Charitable Care Network.
“They always need pens, paper folders, toilet paper, paper towels, and other supplies,” McCard said. “ All those things are important to helping all our clinics fulfill their mission of making healthcare available to those in need.”