People in Spokane’s Russian and Marshallese communities sometimes struggle to receive the medical and dental care they need. But this week, they’ve benefitted from a mobile dental clinic parked at the New Hope Church in central Spokane.
The Smile Mobile is operated by the Arcora Foundation. It came to the Lilac City at the request of Smile Spokane, a local group whose goal is to reduce health disparities.
When the clinic visits Spokane, Carlinda Jabjulan helps to spread the word to her fellow Marshallese citizens. She says they sometimes hesitate to attend opportunities like this.
“They’re shy people and if there’s a Marshallese that is available to help them that day it would be more helpful and will attract them," she said.
Jabjulan says the church is a good location to help convince Marshallese people to visit because of the importance of the church in their lives.
Earlier this week, the clinic was open to serve Spokane residents of Russian ethnicity. Today [Thursday] was the last of its four-day run.