BLOGS

Wenatchee's medical organizations came together on Tuesday to provide skin cancer screening for people who are homeless or struggling to make ends meet and are at increased risk that the disease will be diagnosed.

Drs. Morissa Baskin and Sharon Seguin evaluated about 40 individuals at the Women's Resource Center's food bank at 20 Adams St., according to WRC Executive Director Phoebe Nelson. The people lined up for the food bank were "pretty excited to have that going on," she told me.

Baskin and Seguin found "a couple of things for people to check out further," said Nelsaon.

The cancer screening was made possible because of a partnership between Central Washington Hospital, Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, the Wellness Place and the Women's Resource Center. "That's just exactly what this community is known for," said Nelson about the collaboration.

Nelson and other providers of essential services to low-income individuals are really seeing the devastating effect of the economy. Every Tuesday afternoon from 1:30 to 3 p.m., as many as 200 people are lined up for food at the Women's Resource Center.

While the need has grown dramatically in the last few years, donations have tailed off because people don't have as much to give, she noted.

About nine months after the housing bubble burst here, the Women's Resource Center staff started noticing the increase in those needing help. As jobs have gone away, new people show up who aren't sure how the food bank works.

In recent months, the situation has been exacerbated by the late cherry harvest. People who would be working in a normal season needed support.

How can you help? Donations can be made behind the Women's Resource Center during the day at 20 Adams St. Look for the awning-covered table. Or they can call the center at 662-0121.

Comments

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment