This article is part of Concentrate's Voices of Youth series, which features stories written by Washtenaw County youth with guidance from Concentrate staff mentors, as well as adult-written stories spotlighting local youth perspective. In this installment, student writer Shruti Attili digs into the work of Ypsilanti's Hope Clinic.

When a young, pregnant woman from Ypsilanti stepped into the Hope Clinic, she was living out of her car. She didn’t have access to food, medical care, or emotional support. However, at the Ypsilanti clinic, she wasn’t met with a hefty bill or a long waitlist – she was met with the care she deserved. 

"We were able to connect her with resources like food, diapers, formula, and clothing vouchers. When she left, the gratitude on her face was truly surreal," recalls Anika Baldawa, a student volunteer at Hope Clinic. 

Stories like this shed light on systematic barriers in America’s health care system, where social determinants and insurance barriers leave countless citizens unable to access essential and even life-saving care. Approximately 25.5% of Ypsilanti residents live at or below the poverty line, which is significantly higher than Michigan's average poverty rate of 13.1%. Socioeconomic challenges, such as food insecurity in Ypsilanti, pose challenges of poor nutrition that can worsen chronic conditions. Additionally, lack of transportation and child care further hinder access to essential care. Being unable to afford a bus ticket or a babysitter can pose challenges with serious repercussions.  And for individuals without health insurance, even a single doctor's appointment could be financially crushing. 

Doug CoombeHope Dental Clinic Dentist Denise Toomasian treats client Oscar Diaz.
Hope Clinic is committed to bridging this gap. By providing free and integrated medical, dental, food, and behavioral services to uninsured residents of Washtenaw County, Hope has become a valuable resource. 

"We treat the whole person, not just their medical symptoms," says Ann Marie Peterson, medical manager at the clinic. 

Committed to Hope Clinic’s mission are countless dedicated volunteers who demonstrate what it means to provide compassionate care in a flawed system. 

Founded in 1982, Hope Clinic was started by Dr. Dan Heffernan, who began offering free care to uninsured patients out of the back of his car. Today, the clinic has grown into a valuable resource with the aid of its 137 partners, among which are local churches and agencies like Food Gatherers and Michigan Medicine. The clinic's mission stands in stark contrast to a system where a single doctor's appointment can cost hundreds of dollars. 

Doug CoombeMichelle Metro with daughters Rochelle and Roslyn Robinson at Hope Clinic's Wash With Care laundry program.
According to Betsy King-McDonald, communications manager at Hope, even one medical visit can financially strain families in multiple ways that compound upon one another. 

"There's certainly a ripple effect. If I didn’t have to pay $900 for one medical visit, Christmas could have been really different for my family," King-McDonald says. 

Doug CoombeBetsy King-McDonald.
This kind of story is very common for citizens across the U.S., where receiving medical attention can mean choosing between buying food, paying for rent, or purchasing holiday gifts. 

This philosophy drives Hope’s emphasis on holistic care – addressing not just physical health, but the social and economic factors that influence well-being, like food insecurity, access to emotional support, child care needs – and, crucially, language access. 

In a county where 15.4% of residents speak a language other than English and 4.5% of residents have limited English proficiency,  translation services become a significant determinant of successful health care delivery. When patients cannot communicate with medical professionals, crucial health information can be misinterpreted, leaving treatment unfulfilled. 

King-McDonald speaks to the challenges of attending doctor’s appointments for patients who are not fluent in English. Among Hope Clinic's patients, 13 different languages are spoken. 

"Part of our mission involves treating others with dignity. In order to give people that sense of dignity and knowing that their needs are actually going to be met, translation services are huge," she says.

To minimize these language barriers, Hope Clinic works to expand language access by relying on phone-based interpretation services, and even multilingual volunteers like Baldawa, who speaks Hindi and some Spanish. She, like other volunteers, uses her skills to help translate in the medical and dental clinics when an interpreter is not available. For patients who are not fluent in English, this can mean the difference between confusion and true support. 

Translation is one of the easiest and most impactful ways for youth to help Hope Clinic's mission. Washtenaw County contains multiple multilingual households, and young people who speak multiple languages are uniquely positioned to bridge health care gaps, allowing community members to not only be helped, but heard. Young people in Washtenaw County who are interested in providing translation services to patients at Hope can visit the Hope Clinic website and fill out an interest form.

Doug CoombeA thank you drawing from a Hope Clinic client.
As Hope Clinic continues to serve thousands of Washtenaw County residents each year, its mission remains rooted in love and compassion. Clinic staff seek to foster a sense of community through service, whether it’s through a medical visit, free laundry assistance, or hot meals. For youth like Baldawa, volunteering at the Hope Clinic is more than a mere experience. 

"It’s a powerful way to grow and understand your community on a deeper level," Baldawa says.

Photos by Doug Coombe.

Concentrate staffer Sarah Rigg served as Shruti's mentor on this article.