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CVIM Saves a Life - Helping Hands Article

In the spring of 2010, a young man named Kevin walked into the medical clinic at Centre Volunteers in Medicine. He had not been feeling well for some time but without the benefit of medical coverage through his job, he had placed his health on the back burner. A good friend told him about CVIM…and saved his life. When Kevin arrived for his eligibility appointment, a volunteer staff member recognized that Kevin needed to be seen immediately. The CVIM medical staff examined Kevin and knew that it was an extreme situation. An appointment was secured with a specialist and, at the age of 26, Kevin learned that he had stage four non-Hodgkins lymphona, a form of cancer. CVIM’s medical staff made the necessary connections that would provide medical treatment for Kevin while CVIM’s case management staff member helped him secure Medical Assistance. This past January of 2011, Kevin walked back through the doors of CVIM. He had learned on his 27th birthday that he was free of cancer and wanted to say thank you.

It is because of Kevin and the thousands of Centre County residents without medical and dental insurance that Centre Volunteers in Medicine exists. CVIM opened their doors on February 10, 2003 based on a model from a clinic created 11 years earlier on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Today, CVIM offers medical and dental care, case management, and medication assistance to our uninsured and underinsured Centre County friends and neighbors. Throughout CVIM’s history, thousands of Centre County residents have received services provided through the generosity of many professional volunteers… from the greeter meeting patients at the door to the medical and dental professionals providing treatment.

The concept of CVIM is a beautifully simple one, yet the execution of this valuable service is dependant on one crucial element… the community’s desire to support services for those who are without medical or dental care. There are an estimated 11,000 Centre County residents without medical coverage. That number triples, to a staggering 33,000 individuals, when referring to dental coverage. Whether it is through volunteer labor, donations of supplies, services or monetary gifts, CVIM can only provide the level of care that the community is willing to support. So, as CVIM enters its 9th year of offering services in Centre County, we say thank you to our many volunteers past and present, our donors whose financial gifts and in kind services have allowed CVIM to continue providing care, and especially to all of the “good friends” who make sure those in need realize that the doors of CVIM are open.

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