Student-Run Free Clinic Gets
Nearly $200,000 for Christmas

WASHINGTON, DC (January 10, 2010) — One organization that had an extremely good Christmas was the New Freedmen’s Clinic, a free student-run health clinic founded last year by the students of Howard University College of Medicine.

First, the facility received $22,000 in early December from the university’s College of Medicine alumni to go along with the $30,000 start-up grant that the Association of American Medical Colleges awarded the students earlier in the year.

Then, later that month, the Gilead Foundation, a Foster, CA, non-profit organization that seeks to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities, awarded the clinic $25,000 so it could continue providing free health care to uninsured and underinsured Washington-area residents.

Finally, just before Christmas, a 1941 graduate of the College of Medicine gave the students and their clinic a whopping $150,000.

The donor, a 94-year-old female physician who prefers to remain anonymous, said she gave the money because of the kind of charitable work the students were doing and because she was impressed by the leadership of fourth-year student Raolat Abdulai, director of the facility.

Abdulai said she was grateful and astounded by the clinics good fortune.

“The members of New Freedmen's Clinic and myself were very excited to learn that an alumnus was equally excited about our project,” she said.  “However, we were shocked when we learned of the amount, $150,000!

“We are touched that someone believes so incredibly in our dream. Her donation will make a monumental difference in the way we deliver our work. Our hearts are truly touched by this gift, but most of all, our patients’ health will be improved.” 
 
Abdulai, who began efforts more than two years ago to establish the clinic and caught the attention and help of Oprah Winfrey and the New York-based White House Project, said she was equally grateful for the money given by the alumni and the Gilead Foundation.

“The Gilead Foundation has been a ground breaker in support of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts throughout the country,” she said.  “With this $25,000, we hope to make an impact in the community far beyond any expectations.” 

Contact: Ron Harris
202.683.0182
rjharris@howard.edu 

Related page:
Howard University Hospital and College of Medicine Students Launch Free Clinic for Uninsured.