LAKE PARK — The Migrant Farmworkers Clinic in Lake Park recently received $93,989 through an Increased Demand for Services (IDS) grant.

The IDS grants are awarded to enhance health care access for underserved Georgians, according to a press release. The money is part of the stimulus funding funneled through the Georgia Department of Community Health’s State Office of Rural Health. Organizations in other counties also received part of the state’s total award of $6,964,291.

Migrant Farmworkers Clinic Inc. operates clinics in Lake Park and Statenville, said Joe Tillman, executive director.

“There is a tremendous need in our area for the services our outreach workers provide,” said Tillman. “They provide much more than medical encounters for the farmworkers. They also have relationships with other agencies who provide clothing, food and other basic necessities farmworkers are sometimes forced to do without.”

Outreach workers from the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic accompany farmworkers to doctors appointments to provide translation services, which can be invaluable to the farmworkers and their families, Tillman said. Because Migrant Farmworkers Clinic Inc. operates two clinics, the current staff isn’t always available to meet the high demand for these services. The additional staff provided by this funding will allow the clinic to have an increased presence in the farmworker community, he said.

Some of the additional funding will be used by the clinic to hire an additional licensed practical nurse. Tillman said it will also enable the clinic to provide additional educational materials on subjects like proper nutrition, AIDS and HIV awareness, diabetes, high blood pressure, pregnancy, and STDs. The educational services provided during outreach improve the quality of life for the farmworkers and their families, he said.

The increase in outreach activity will mean an increase in associated costs for things like gasoline, outreach supplies, and medical supplies. More patient registrations and medical encounters will necessitate the purchase of two more office computers, Tillman explained.

Charles Owens, executive director of the Georgia Department of Community Health’s State Office of Rural Health, said, “The awarding of the IDS grants allows the State Office of Rural Health to continue its efforts to build a healthier Georgia by empowering communities to strengthen and maintain the best possible health care using existing resources. The IDS grant will make a significant impact on improving health outcomes and creating and retaining jobs in these communities.”

Julie Clapp is the clinic coordinator for the Lowndes County Migrant Farmworker Clinic in Lake Park. Clapp said the clinic helps farmworkers from various South American countries, as well as Mexico and Haiti. To qualify for the program, workers must show pay stubs demonstrating that they have worked in the fields for the last two years and earn at least 50 percent of their income from farmwork, she said.

“It takes a lot of compassion to work here,” Clapp said. “Clients can overwhelm you with their issues, problems with language, transportation, culture, and so on. We’re here because we care and we want to help.”

The clinic is a primary care facility, Clapp said. Outreach workers register the farmworkers and do their best to educate them on how to care for themselves and how to get treatment if they have health problems. Funding for the program comes from the federal government and is channeled through the state, she said. Their main office is in Cordele. They get approximately $250 per year per client, she said.

Anyone can come to the clinic for treatment, Clapp said, but those who are not migrant farmworkers will pay a slightly higher fee. Most of their clients are men between the ages of 19 and 51, she said, many of whom come from Miami, Fla., which is their base. Their Haitian clients are mostly older but very sweet, she said. Their ages range between 50 and 70, and they are still working in the fields. The Haitians are considered black, not Hispanic. They speak Creole and French.

“Thank God they have friends, roommates and co-workers who speak English very well. We speak English to the interpreter, and the interpreter speaks either Creole or French to the patient,” Clapp said.

Blacks are more likely to have problems with diabetes and high blood pressure, she said. Clapp also works as a court interpreter. South American countries each have their own dialect, many of them mutually unintelligible, she said.

Clapp said clinic staff recently treated a client who had a stroke and suffered partial paralysis on one side of his body. Sylvia Sanders, who said she does a little bit of everything at the clinic, transported him to South Georgia Medical Center for treatment, helped him with intake paperwork and got him admitted. Sanders said he’s doing much better now.