A Message from the Board Chair: The Need Continues and so will AFC

Five years ago, when I joined the Board of Directors of Arlington Free Clinic, we were just beginning to talk about the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”), its potential impact on our patients, and the hope that someday we might even have reason to close our doors.

A lot has changed since then. Today, conversations about healthcare reform are going on all around us, all of the time, in the papers, on the news, in the airwaves—not to mention in our homes and workplaces. Our proximity to Washington and the legislators debating the issue can make the matter feel even closer. Unfortunately, a solution to healthcare for all seems as far away as ever.

Despite the ACA, there continues to be a great need for accessible healthcare, right here in Arlington. The patients we serve are mostly working adults who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford the insurance subsidized through the ACA. Since the Clinic began in 1994, the number of uninsured residents needing care has continued to greatly exceed our capacity.

It is impossible to predict what health care reform will look like in the coming years. If the ACA is repealed or current marketplace subsidies are discontinued, there will be even more low-income Arlingtonians without health insurance. For the past 22 years, those most in need have been able to get care at AFC through the generosity of volunteers and donors like you. As AFC remains committed to providing high-quality, comprehensive care to our patients, please join me in continuing to support their important mission.

—Jennifer Gamboa, DPT, OCS
Board Chair

Read our complete 2017 Annual Report.