Yesterday Dr. Alieta and John Eck went to lunch with Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Olasky. They told him that God used his book, The Tragedy of American Compassion, to inspire them to start the clinic at Zarephath. He toured the new clinic-- now just studs with no walls, but a pretty impressive layout with 6 exam rooms and three intake rooms (where the volunteers listen to the stories of why the people need to be coming to a free clinic). 
 
Dr. Olasky is the editor of WORLD Magazine and his wife, also a writer, took careful notes that will probably wind up as a full length article at some point. He agreed to be one of the speakers at the AAPS annual meeting in Atlanta (where Alieta becomes the President) in September. 
 
He asked many questions about the Medicaid replacement concept and saw great promise. But he said we have to be careful to have all our FAQs thought through so that we do not get blind-sided by the intense opposition that will surely rise up. True. we are compiling a list and he wants a copy.
 
Before he wrote the book in about 1994, Marvin Olasky wandered the streets of Washington to see how it is to be homeless. He was impressed at how quickly people would give him money when he was panhandling and at how the soup kitchens would feed him, no questions asked. He felt like a pet, where people put food in front of him and then bussed his table without asking him to do anything at all. They never seemed to want to dig any deeper-- to ask what brought him to that place. "What family did he leave behind?," "What children did he abandon?" etc. Those are the issues that we try to handle at the ZHC, and suggest solutions. And these are the issues that the Medicaid system ignores, perhaps for fear of being "judgmental."
 
We told him about a man who came into the clinic a few weeks ago-- very lonely and dejected. After Alieta dealt with the physical issues, and she cannot remember what they were, she told him about the free men's breakfast that is held on the first Saturday of every month and ponited to the building. A week later he was back, all excited. He had not only gone to the breakfast, but came to church at 8 AM the next morning-- and then stayed for all three identical services! He LOVED what he heard.
 
As they drove the Olaskys to the train station, Jane Orient's e-mail arrived-- about Jane and Dr. Lee Vliet's visit with the Arizona speaker to discuss the plan to replace Medicaid that is working up the ranks in NJ. Alieta read it to them-- and they could see the national implications of replacing Medicaid with something better.  Great timing, Jane!
 
If we inspire the churches to start free clinics, that will be half the battle.  We will be able to deal with the culture of poverty and not just put bandaids and toss billions of dollars of taxpayer money into programs that keep people down.