The Friendship Clinic, Inc., dba The Marie Blanchard Friendship Clinic (MBFC) is requesting financial assistance for general operating expenses in support of our ongoing mission to provide health care to the uninsured and underserved in Idaho’s Treasure Valley. While the heart of our mission is founded on the principles of community service as a volunteer medical-provider clinic, to fully serve our patients and for the clinic to operate safely and sustainably, those volunteers must be supported by the consistency of small, employed clinic staff. As a small nonprofit organization, MBFC relies solely on funds contributed through small grants, individual donations, and fundraising events. Most grant-making organizations do not allow requests for support of operational funds; whereas, because of our operating model, most funds expended by MBFC are for operations. Throughout its history, MBFC has operated with extreme frugal discipline, relying on licensed volunteer medical professionals to perform the necessary care of patients, accepting the support of national and local partners for access to some medical procedures, supplies, and medications, and allowing the continuation of operations even in years of negative cash flow due to lack of grant support. However, with the addition of a part-time Clinic Nurse Manager as our second employee, it is even more critical that MBFC continue its appeal to generous local foundations that recognize the importance of this type of support and are willing to consider it in their grant-making portfolio.
In October 2024, we will celebrate our 20th Year of Giving Celebration, helping our community members in need of medical care, in our community. The Marie Blanchard Friendship Clinic opened in the fall of 2004 to provide FREE quality basic health services to uninsured and underinsured individuals falling within 200% of Federal Poverty Guidelines. Our mission is to provide hope and healing as a bridge to health for the under-served, uninsured, and underinsured.
GOALS:
• To provide high-quality care that saves lives and promotes a sustainable healthy
lifestyle for our patients
• To continue to improve our health education opportunities
• To promote increased visibility and awareness of the clinic
• To attract new volunteers and board members
• To promote sustainability by researching and writing grants, seeking new revenue
through individual and corporate donations
• To continue to offer clinical opportunities to a wide range of health studies students
The Friendship Clinic provides FREE basic health care to both uninsured and underserved patients who fall within annual income guidelines. Our clinic is unique among area providers because, in addition to providing basic health care services, we also provide on-site physical therapy, diabetic counseling, nutritional counseling, social workers and mental health counseling, and mental health counseling. These services are provided by all-volunteer providers!
The clinic also maintains a unique relationship with Idaho’s institutions of higher education including contractual agreements with the School of Nursing at Boise State University, the Physician’s Assistant Program at Idaho State University, and the University of Washington School of Medicine WWAMI medical school program. Examples of these relationships include undergraduate and graduate students from the area who are preparing to apply to medical school or other post-graduate programs. These students volunteer at the clinic in preparation for their graduate school applications. As previously discussed, the clinic has medical students from the University of Washington School of Medicine WWAMI medical school program now staffing the clinic two evenings per month, and we are now also staffing the clinic with medical residents from the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center one evening per month. We provide a venue for students engaged in healthcare education to receive volunteer experience in a clinical setting.
POPULATION SERVED
We provide FREE health care to Idaho citizens who fall into the financial gap between being able to afford health insurance and being eligible for Medicaid. The community needs people that care when those in need of basic medicine feel hopeless. The many times we have heard the words: “You saved my life, with your compassion and care” we know we are serving our community with that compassion.
Thank you!
