Ywca Breakfast Raises Big Money Donors Hear Plans For Clinic To Serve Homeless Families

FOR THE RECORD: 3-26-98 Wrong amount: The YWCA expects donations from its fund-raiser on Tuesday to reach $75,000. The amount was incorrectly reported Wednesday.

More than 750 people attended the annual Spokane YWCA benefit breakfast Tuesday, many of them donating at least $100.

While the total won’t be tallied for several days, YWCA development director Barbara Little predicted it will reach $750,000.

The crowd, which gathered at the Ag Trade Center, was told of plans for a medical clinic serving the homeless families of students who attend the YWCA Transition School.

The Children’s Transition Clinic, set to open in August, is being built in old classrooms at the YWCA. It will be staffed by students and faculty of the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education and the Washington State University College of Nursing.

The clinic will double as a teaching facility for nursing students. Physician oversight will be provided by the Community Health Association of Spokane.

Labor to build the 1,000-square-foot clinic is being donated by Shea Construction. The clinic will include three examination rooms, a laboratory, an office, a work area for practitioners and a waiting area.

“It’s not fancy,” said Karen Kelly, project manager for the intercollegiate center. “It’s nice and it’s decent.”

Construction is expected to cost the YWCA about $60,000, Kelly said.

The clinic will be open Tuesday through Friday to homeless families with children enrolled in the school. Other low-income families will be treated at the clinic by referral.

The clinic will offer physical exams and immunizations, provide treatment for minor illnesses and give referrals to specialists.

Medicaid will be billed, when patients qualify. Otherwise care will be free, Kelly said.

“There’s a tremendous need for pediatric care,” she said. “We just have to raise the money to provide the care.”

, DataTimes