About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2023)
2B Midweek Edition-April 5-6, 2023 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LIFE Choices mobile clinic providing prenatal services, STI testing Photo provided by Carole Ausborn Choices Pregnancy Care Center, a faith-based nonprofit providing ultrasounds, pregnancy testing and sexually transmitted infection testing, is now equipped with a 450-square-foot mobile clinic to transport its services to clients who are either uncomfortable or unable to visit the center’s brick-and-mortar offices in Gainesville and Flowery Branch. BY DONNELL SUGGS dsuggs@gainesvilletimes.com Sometimes, one goes to a clinic for expert, non-emer gency medical attention. And sometimes, the clinic comes to the patient. Choices Pregnancy Care Center is a nonprofit Chris tian medical center that provides ultrasounds, preg nancy testing and sexually transmitted infection test ing. With its new 450-square- foot mobile clinic, Choices is now equipped to provide those same services free of charge to patients who either aren’t able to visit one of the brick-and-mortar locations in downtown Gainesville and Flowery Branch or aren’t comfortable doing so due to privacy concerns. “This full-service mobile clinic goes out into the com munity and saves people travel time, money and, in a lot of cases, anonymity,” Choices Assistant Director Carole Ausborn said. According to Choices Executive Director Lee Koz, the goal for the mobile clinic, which was purchased for Choices by Free Chapel,is to reach as many people as possible. “The mobile clinic will give us greater reach within the community,” Koz said. “Once we got the right people in the room, this happened fast.” According to Save the Storks, a Colorado-based nonprofit mobile pregnancy and ultrasound provider that tracks data for mobile units like the one Choices has, Choices is on track to provide an above-average amount of services to patients. Inside, the mobile clinic is equipped with everything the staff needs to do the same work they do at the Choices offices, including two full-size exam rooms and a full-sized ultrasound machine. The exam rooms are completely enclosed for maximum patient privacy. Since January, the mobile clinic has been hitting the streets of Hall County from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays. The locations of the mobile unit vary depending on the spaces local businesses, col leges and churches allow them to park. Since Janu ary, the clinic has parked at a dozen locations, with more booked through June, according to Ausborn. Patients do not have to make appointments and can find the various rotat ing locations of the clinic via the Choices Pregnancy Care Center Facebook page or by calling the Choices Preg nancy Care Center hotline at 770-535-1245. In most cases, the busi nesses, churches and schools allow Choices to use the out door spaces for free. “I call them up and tell them who we are and ask if they mind if we come over and talk to them about part nering with us by allowing us to park there two days of the week,” Ausborn explained. “We are self-sufficient and all we need is a 20-by-20 space next to their roadway. ” Businesses are not required to have a par ticular religious or moral stance when partnering with Choices, Koz said. “We consider ourselves a non-political organization,” Koz said. “For us, this is about service. We don’t con sider this a political issue.” “Denominations don’t matter,” Ausborn said. “We cross all borders.” Choices staffers like Ste ven Littlefield, who holds a commercial driver’s license and is qualified to operate the mobile unit, contribute by wearing multiple hats as the mobile unit driver and male advocate for patients. Along with Littlefield, there are three other staffers that travel aboard the unit, including a registered nurse, ultrasound technician and female patient advocate. The advocates are there to greet and assist patients when they arrive and, in most cases, help during the initial introduction. In the future, Choices plans to replace its Flowery Branch brick-and-mortar location with the mobile clinic, according to Koz. The decision is both finan cial and strategic, as the mobile clinic can “maximize our operation and reduce costs,” he explained. “We eventually want to get the mobile clinic to a five-day-a- week model.” Randy & Friends enterprise serves ice cream with side of social acceptance BY DONNELL SUGGS dsuggs@gainesvilletimes.com There are few things as universally beloved as ice cream. Kids like ice cream. Adults like ice cream. Dogs like ice cream. Everyone likes ice cream. The ice cream cart, a new enterprise of local nonprofit Randy & Friends, has begun selling ice cream while offering adults with disabili ties a safe place to get job experience. Midland Ice Cream Social is — for now — a mobile enterprise brainstormed by Randy & Friends Execu tive Director Becky Vinson and Program Director Vicki Shroyer, both retired educa tors, to create additional job opportunities for adults with disabilities. “It’s all been a God thing ever since,” Vinson said of the enterprise’s early good fortune. After only a few weeks in business, Midland Ice Cream Social has hired six adults from inside the organization with the hope that the associates will even tually grow out of the jobs and move on to working among other adults at local businesses, retailers, restau rants, etc. “If we help get them jobs, then we are doing our jobs,” said Vinson. Shroyer added that the associates at Midland Ice Cream Social need to “con vince the community that they are employable,” as the stigma associated with disabilities can be especially hard to shed during job interviews. The new enterprise aims to do just that. “We care about creating significant futures for our associates,” Shroyer said. Produced by Michigan- based Ashby’s Ice Cream, Midland Ice Cream Social offers traditional flavors such as chocolate, vanilla and butter pecan, as well as kid-friendly flavors like “unicorn stars,” a purple- colored vanilla ice cream with blue frosting, sprinkles and glitter star candies, and “Superman,” a combination of fluorescent lemon yellow, strawberry red and bubble gum blue ice creams. Ice cream sandwiches are available in adult sizes and “chunks” for kids to more easily enjoy. Where to find Midland Ice Cream Social Midland Ice Cream Social began serving the public earlier this year, beginning at Randy & Friends’ annual banquet Feb. 23. Since then, according to Vinson, the ice cream cart has been busy booking future dates. “That night, we booked over 10 events,” she said. The schedule for upcom ing locations can be found on the Randy & Friends Face- book page. To better prepare for more ice cream serving opportu nities, Vinson and Shroyer are undergoing ServSafe online managerial training while the staff are working on obtaining food handling certifications. Vinson said the plan is to continue pre paring associates for any possible future employment opportunities. “There are a lot of walls around adults and kids with special needs; we want to include them into our com munity any way we can,” she said. According to Vinson, Randy & Friends hopes to move Midland Ice Cream Social into a brick-and- mortar location in the near future. “We want our customers to be able to come in and mingle with our associates,” she said. “We want our store to be a happy place where we eliminate the negative To better prepare for more ice cream serving opportunities, Randy & Friends Executive Director Becky Vinson and Program Director Vicki Shroye are undergoing ServSafe online managerial training while the staff are working on obtaining food handling certifications. Vinson said the plan is to continue preparing associates for any possible future employment opportunities. stigma of dealing with adults with special needs.” An established location for the business can also help provide more jobs for adults with disabilities looking to establish a foothold in the working world. “When they are behind that and they get to serve oth ers, that’s powerful,” Vinson said. lQ If ■ Sr* jn ; 4i cY Midland Ice Cream Social is a new Randy & Friends enterprise designed to help adults with disabilities gain job experience. The mobile ice cream cart has been popping up at events around Gainesville and Hall County since late February. Photos provided by Becky Vinson HOBBY LOBBY FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU OR SHOP ONLINE AT HOBBYLOBBY.COM STORE HOURS: 9 A.M. - 8 P.M. • CLOSED SUNDAY PRICES GOOD IN STORES MONDAY, APRIL 3 - SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 2023. PRICES GOOD ONLINE SUNDAY, APRIL 2 - SATURDAY, APRIL 8, 2023. SOME ADVERTISED ITEMS & PROMOTIONS NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE. 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