By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY—Imagine if going to the doctor was not a possibility. For the 12 percent of the Shelby County population without health care, this is a reality. That’s where the Community of Hope Health Clinic comes in.

The Pelham-based clinic serves patients between 19- and 64-years-old who do not have access to health insurance and fall 200 percent below the federal poverty level.

“We see the poorest of the poor,” CHHC Executive Director Justin Johnston said at the CHHC fundraising breakfast at Asbury United Methodist Church on April 7.

Over the past fiscal year, the clinic saw 1,786 visits and averaged between 30 and 50 patient appointments each week.

“We’re taking people who may have not seen a doctor in a decade,” Johnston said.

The clinic’s success relies on volunteer work, Johnston said. Currently the clinic has a pool of 15 healthcare providers—doctors and nurses who volunteer their time to see patients during clinic hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Since May 2015, CHHC volunteers have donated countless hours of work valued at $204,418.

“There is no way we could afford this, and it’s all volunteered for us,” Johnston said, noting volunteer support has grown over the past year.

Community support has also grown, Johnston said. Churches such as Asbury UMC, Meadowbrook Baptist Church and the First Baptist Church of Pelham have provided support to the clinic.

Brookwood Baptist Health – Shelby Baptist Medical Center has also provided crucial medical assistance to CHHC, donating thousands of dollars worth of medical services to clinic patients.

The medical care and assistance provided by CHHC made a real difference in the life of Shelby County resident, Eduardo Padilla-Lopez, who told his story through interpreter Mary Maldonado during the April 7 breakfast.

When Padilla-Lopez arrived at CHHC with his wife three months ago, he was in immense pain and could no longer walk due to an injury incurred at work more than a decade ago.

“The day I came to the clinic, I came in tears,” Padilla-Lopez said through Maldonado. “I wasn’t able to walk, I wasn’t able to drive, I wasn’t able to do anything.”

CHHC volunteers assisted Padilla-Lopez and he was quickly admitted to Brookwood Baptist Health – Princeton Baptist Medical Center for emergency surgery.

Without the emergency surgery, Padilla-Lopez would have lost the use of his leg.

“I want to say thank you very much to the Community of Home Health Clinic,” Padilla-Lopez said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have gotten the help that I needed.”

The CHHC is located in the Department of Public Health building at 2000 County Services Drive in Pelham. The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information, call 685-4154 or visit Communityofhopeclinic.com.