Guadalupe Free Clinic Serving the indigent and medically-uninsured

From the Founder’s Desk
November 12, 2008

Dear Friends of the Guadalupe Free Clinic,


As we enter into the second half of our 4th year of operation, I wanted to take a moment to recognize three of our volunteers for their selfless and tireless work at the Clinic.

On October 21, the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation, at the seventh annual Goodwill Awards and Dinner sponsored by the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, honored our own Connie Prescott, Assistant Medical Director. Connie was nominated for and received the prestigious Lawrence and Martha McMurtry Award for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health and Wellness for her dedication and commitment in the operation and development of the Guadalupe Free Clinic for the past three years. The award plaque was presented by Xavier Richardson, President of the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation, who chronicled Connie’s many accomplishments. In addition to the plaque received by Connie, the Clinic received a check for $5,000. Congratulations are in order to Connie. This award recognizes and honors all of the behind the scenes work she does each week to help our patients get the best care in the area.

This week, the Clinic family bids farewell to two of our original board members and volunteers: Richard and Josie Wobbe. Dick and Josie were instrumental in the founding of the Clinic. Until this week, Dick had served as the Clinic’s first plant manager and he spent countless hours in the Clinic laying down floor tile; renovating offices; installing office and medical equipment and fixtures; and painting interior and exterior walls, not to mention the many ordinary maintenance duties required to keep the Clinic in fine working order. Moreover, Dick provided me with sagely advice in the early stages of the Clinic’s life and key insights into how to best handle the multiple responsibilities associated with starting and running such an operation.

Josie began the Clinic’s only cottage industry: The Golden Arrow Ministry. She would digitally record my Sunday homilies, copy them onto cd’s and then provide them to subscribers and other interested persons on a weekly and monthly basis for a free-will offering. Last year alone, her work generated over $4,000! Josie would travel to parish bazaars and fairs; sell cd’s in front of church; mail cd’s to subscribers and spend countless hours producing cd’s. One of Josie’s other responsibilities was the production of the Clinic newsletter. I would provide her with the contents of the mailing and she would do the rest. So, if you have ever received a Clinic newsletter, you have Josie to thank. Finally, Josie was an instrumental part of the spiritual “prayer warrior” backbone of the Clinic – organizing persons to pray for the intentions of the Clinic and invoking Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession to make our work fruitful and efficacious for our patients and volunteers.

We will miss Dick and Josie tremendously as they move to Fort Valley, Virginia. Their energy, enthusiasm and love for our Lady and her clinic made starting, running and maintaining this project a joy. The Clinic, the community and I are personally indebted to them. On behalf of the patients, volunteers and staff of the Clinic, we wish them every happiness and God’s blessing in their new home.