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E-mail This StoryWith the faltering economy leaving more people jobless and without health insurance for their family, the low-cost Frisco Cares Clinic may soon be able to expand their hours and help more children. The expansion of services is contingent on a plan that must be approved by the city to move the clinic into a building of its own, where it would not face scheduling conflicts.
NewStart Church of the Nazarene offered to let the clinic operate out of a vacant house on its 2-acre site. If the city approves the land use and the house is repaired to meet code, the clinic hopes to offer appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays and provide vaccinations on Wednesdays. The clinic operates one day a week at Primera Iglesia Bautista.
“We’re going to go back to the city for our grant to be able to do the needed repairs to be able to get into that building, and we will finally have our own home,” Frisco Cares Clinic board president Cathy Reynolds said.
NewStart Church owns a parcel of land at North County Road and First Street with two houses, a four-car garage, and an empty lot. Services are held in one of the houses, and they are planning to use the garage for extra meeting space. The church plans to demolish the second house and use the space to build a sanctuary, but the construction process isn’t expected to start for several years.
“We’re not going to be able to build on that property for awhile, so there’s no sense in a house sitting there vacant not being used,” Pastor Denise Crawford said. “If they can use it, we would be happy for them to use it.”
Earlier this year officials planned to move the clinic into the former WIC building n which is owned by Frisco Family Services Center n on McKinney Road, but scheduling conflicts would have prevented the clinic from being open as often as volunteers would like. By moving into a building that will not be shared, the clinic hopes to see more patients.
“Think about all the people who have gotten laid off, or their insurance is so high they can’t afford to insure their kids,” Reynolds said. “With our own building I think our numbers are really going to start increasing.”
Frisco Cares Clinic began treating children in 2005, and has more than doubled the number of new patients it sees each year. Last year it treated more than 450 uninsured children from Frisco, Celina, Little Elm, and Prosper. More than 70 non-medical volunteers, two volunteer physicians, and several volunteer nurses run the clinic.
Reynolds said that the house will need to be brought up to ADA compliance and some electrical problems must be fixed before it will pass inspection. Volunteers from the clinic and the church are expected to work together to repair the problems.
NewStart Church plans to charge $1 per month for rent, and hopes to provide more volunteers for the clinic from its congregation of about 50 people.
“Our whole purpose as a church is to reach out to our community,” Crawford said. “We want to be able to reach out and be a part of the community as well.”
