CITIZEN SPOTLIGHT
Mark & Shelly Braisher MARK AND SHELLY BRAISHER LIFT BURDENS THROUGH BEAUTIFICATION. By Berlin Green
Paying it forward can be beautiful in a multitude of ways. The Moore Faith Medical Clinic was formed in 2015 by a group of volunteers after tornadoes devastated the area in 2013. The small clinic is open part-time, offering free primary care, urgent care, diagnostic testing, disease management, and other medical care. Now in its seventh year, the clinic is still run entirely by volunteers and serves thousands of patients each year. “After the tornado, a bunch of us from different churches just worked together to try to help rebuild the community, and we found that there was a lot of continued need,” Dave Evans, executive director of Moore Faith Medical Clinic, said. “Our primary focus is serving patients, so this is huge; I don’t know if you looked at the building on the way in, but we’re desperately in need of a little beauty.” The clinic, with its empty flowerbeds, long-dead shrubbery, and patchy lawn, has needed a green thumb’s touch for quite some time. “This place has been neglected for years. Originally, it was the Clevela nd Cou nt y Hea lt h Department. Then it was vacant. Then it served Moore as the police station after the tornadoes. It was
just temporarily while they were building the new one, but nothing’s b e en done. Since we took the space, we haven’t had the resources or the manpower to do anything Shelly and Mark Braisher. Photo by Berlin Green. with the lawn and landscaping. We’ve just been a landscaping company, and wanted trying to take care of people’s to use their business to pay it health and medicines. So this is forward in the community. going to make a huge difference. I “We wanted to do something feel like this is going to brighten good with our business and give the whole area. Yeah, she’s gonna back in some way,” Shelly Braisher be beautiful.” said. “Mark reached out to our pastor, who told us about the medical clinic. We came over and “It’s another way met Dave and started getting the that we see our ball rolling. It’s a worthwhile place. community, It does a lot for the community and loving each other the people here. I know it’s not top and taking care of the mind because the people here of each other.” are doing things that are much more important than grass and -Dave Evans landscaping, but we feel like this is one way that we can contribute and make it nice for the volunteers and Mark and Shelly Braisher decided people who are coming in. It’s just to step in to help beautify the space. something we’re able to do that can The Braishers own ManageMowed, lift things off their plate.” The clinic’s volunteers are looking forward to the revitalization of their space, a nd t he Braishers think it’s something the patients will appreciate as well. “ W hen people come here to the free clinic, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t come to a place they can be proud to walk into, the same as any other d o c t o r ’s of f ic e ,” Mark Braisher said. “Usually the medical field takes very good care of their landscaping and such,
and when you walk in it’s a nice building, nice image. We’d like for them to have that image for them as well. When there’s limited resources, that’s difficult. For us to be able to do that takes that piece away for them, it’s less they have to worry about, and it helps make it a place the patients and the volunteers can be proud of.” Once the spring gardening season begins, the Braishers will completely redo the beds with flowers and shrubbery and keep up with needed lawn care throughout the year. “It’s another way that we see our community, loving each other and taking care of each other,” Evans said. “It’s a great way to show that they care about the patients and the people who come here. We’re all volunteers. Everybody. Every doctor, every nurse or social worker, chaplain, we’re all volunteers. So it’s just another way that we see this community coming together and to love our neighbors. It’s really amazing. Volunteers are so critical. Mark and Shelly are just another example of people who care. so it’s beautiful when you see a plan come together.” To learn more about the Moore Faith Medical Clinic, visit www. moorefaithclinic.org. To learn more about ManageMowed, visit www.managemowed.com.
The exterior of Moore Faith Medical Clinic. Photo by Berlin Green.
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