Free Clinics Let Kids Make Most of Wait

A poster on the wall greeted each tot and child who arrived--”Welcome to Camp WIC. Let’s be healthy!”

Sitting on the floor below, Gabriel Robles used crayons to draw several types of fruit on a paper plate. A banana, orange slices, strawberries and a watermelon wedge took shape, but the 7-year-old said the vegetables he depicted--a carrot and some broccoli--are his favorite foods.

Despite its name, the summer “camp” Gabriel attended was not the typical outdoor sort composed of cabins and cursed with poison oak, but rather an indoor educational play area at the Northeast Valley Health Corp.’s free clinic on Foothill Boulevard for low-income residents.

The play area--stocked with puppets, art supplies, books and videos--is a place where “camp counselors,” mostly Valley teenagers and college students, teach proper nutrition to children who are waiting for either free screenings or their parents who are in free education sessions on health-related topics.

“For some of these children, this is the first time they even touch a book,” said Gayle Schachne, WIC director. “I think most people could do this [camp idea] in any place there is a real need for crowd control.”

The Northeast Valley Health Corp. operates 12 federally funded Women, Infants and Children clinics in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Each clinic has had a Camp WIC play station this year, but like all summers--and all summer camps--Camp WICs must end. Organizers plan to cease operation at most sites today, said Michele Jones, Camp WIC coordinator.

Organizers hope residents might volunteer to continue reading to children in waiting rooms.

To do so, call (818) 898-1388, Ext. 140.

For more information on general clinic services, call (818) 361-7541.