Dr. Lorraine Fowler, 2004 recipient of the Jane Addams Award, and Dr. Marshall White, fifth president of Midlands Technical College The Human Services Program and Human Services Alumnae of Midlands Technical College held the 7th Annual Jane Addams’ Award Gala Thursday, April 1, 2010 at Seawell’s Banquet and Reception Center. This year, the Jane Addams Award was presented to the Free Medical Clinic, located at 1875 Harden Street in Columbia, for its services to those unable to afford health insurance or the costs of their own health care.

As Dennis Coker, the chief executive director of the Free Medical Clinic said, “Everyone is one medical crisis away from needing a free clinic, and everyone knows someone who presently needs a free clinic.”

The Free Medical Clinic has been “celebrating services to the Midlands since 1984.” Its mission is to provide quality healthcare at no cost and no cost pharmaceuticals to residents in the local community who cannot pay for such services and who have no health insurance or adequate financial resources.

Judith Crocker–Billingsley and Mary M. Rawls, human services director for Midlands Technical College and the first recipient of the Jane Addams Award Coker reported that the clinic currently has 96 volunteers from the medical community and has held 142,000 medical visits since its founding. He said the clinic runs with “a little bit of help and a whole lot of hope. As long as there is a vulnerable population who needs the help, the Free Medical Clinic will be there to meet those needs.”

The inspiration for this human services award, Jane Addams (1860–1935), was the second female Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1931 for her work as a sociologist and as the international president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She was the leader of the U.S. Settlement House movement and the co–founder of The Hull House in Chicago, Illinois in 1889. She dedicated her life to others through her belief in tolerance, philanthropy, and a strong work ethic.

Program participants at the 2010 Jane Addams Award Gala included speaker, Ms. Nancy Barton, Executive Director of Sistercare, Inc.; mistress of ceremony, Ms. Brandi Cummings, WIS TV News Reporter Anchor Host; and Mary Rawls, human services program director for Midlands Technical College and the first recipient of the Jane Addams’ Award.

Donations were accepted at the gala to fund two scholarships for the Midlands Technical College Neediest Student Fund.