DUBLIN, Ga. — Health care can be expensive, especially if you don't have insurance. There's a clinic in Dublin that's worked for the past 10 years to serve Laurens County folks who can't afford health insurance.
Joseph Fuller has received care from JOY Health clinics for more than two years now. He says the health clinic provides him with hope, "And peace and love in people knowing that they have a safe place that they can come to.".
JOY stands for "Jesus, Others, and Yourself."
"The love of Christ, sharing that, and then offering to share the Gospel with them because physical healing without eternal healing is null and void," Rita Green, the director of JOY Health Clinics.
Local doctors, pastors, and the Laurens Baptist Association started the clinic a decade ago.
"It's a mission, just like going overseas to do a mission trip, but it's in your own backdoor," Green said.
Green says they serve between 250 to 300 patients a year, providing primary healthcare to patients from 18 years old to 64, patients who have no other insurance.
They offer medical, dental, and vision care, and have clinic one night a week on Tuesdays.
"This clinic is run just like a doctor's office," Green said.
In order to become a patient, you have to live in Laurens County and be working. They focus on chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma, as well as treating hepatitis C, but that's not all.
Jimmy Cox works as a counselor at the health clinic.
"Not just what's going on with their illness, what's going on with their body, but what's going on at home, how well their life's going, what their dreams and their hopes are," Cox said.
James Land says he's thankful for the care.
"It's amazing that somebody would take their time out of their busy schedule just to help somebody like myself that is not able to take care of themselves at the moment," Land said.
The health professionals are all volunteers. They receive their funding from individuals, churches, and businesses.