What Our Patients Say

Without ACORN, Martha Blackburn says she wouldn't be here.

ACORN, a non-profit health clinic that provides healthcare to low income rural residents, had just opened in 1976 when Martha was referred there. Struggling to care for a very sick infant and disabled husband, Martha herself was sick but had no money for medicine.

She borrowed a car to get to the clinic and immediately received not only the healthcare she needed, but emotional support as well.

Over the years, Martha, now 61, has visited ACORN many times, most recently in December for help with quitting the smoking habit she'd had since age 7. The medical staff provided her with patches and other medications to help her stop. If she felt the urge to smoke, she called the clinic, and two or three staff members would get on the phone to counsel her. Martha smoked her last cigarette in December 1999.

"I know the medical staff as doctors and friends," Martha says. "They're almost family. I can tell them anything, and they will get things done for patients like me if they can. They understand our situation."

Martha's husband of 40 years died recently, and ACORN's staff helped her through that tragedy as well. Quitting smoking and friendly support has made her feel better about many things.

"I haven't looked at life like this in a long time," Martha says.