Community Corner
Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic Still Aiding the Community
Founded 43 years ago by a group of students, the clinic offers free medical services to Echo Park and the surrounding communities.
Students Want to Help
The Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic (HSFC) was founded in 1968 by a group of Pepperdine students studying for their masters degrees.
The students, who only needed volunteer hours in order to graduate, found during their job hunt that there seemed to be no affordable healthcare option for Angelenos.
Thus, the students founded HSFC on a basic principle that “health care is a right, not a privilege,” a motto that the clinic still thrives on 43 years later.
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As a result, the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic does as much as it can in order to serve the community, and the clinic never turns anyone away for their inability to pay.
But despite its work and a push for better healthcare options, the clinic still sees the same problem within the community as it did during its inception.
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“Forty-three years later,” HSFC’s director Tacy Padua notes. “Healthcare is still one of the major issues.”
HSFC Runs on Volunteerism
Despite the uphill battle for socialized health care, HSFC has a wide scope, and it sees about 84,000 people per year.
The clinic is also staffed by over 200 volunteers many of who are drawn from some of Los Angeles’ top medical programs and hospitals.
The volunteers also vary in age, and many are young children and teens like 12-year-old Paola who volunteers alongside her mother at the clinic for a few hours each week. There are more like Paola who are a product of the clinic and give back through volunteerism.
Even with all the positive work the clinic does, running it is not an easy task, especially with the recession and state and federal budget cuts. However, the volunteers seem to never lose sight of the goal that is at hand.
“When things get tough,” Celia Garza who has been working at the clinic since 1978 says. “ I want to quit. I tell Tacy I’m leaving, but then someone says, ‘Thank you.’ That keeps me at my job. It’s so rewarding, and I love to help.”
Donations Are Key
To keep it running, the clinic mainly relies on the federal and state money, donations from businesses and citizens, fundraisers and its own thrift store. Eventually, the clinic hopes to put itself out of business.
“In the future, our main goal is not exist,” Padua states. “We want to make sure that everyone has access to free healthcare.”
For information on how you can contribute to the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic or to learn more about its free services, please visit their website hsfreeclinic.org.
