A community health center in Buffalo with an international clinic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is working to respond to the Ebola outbreak by sending over $2.5 million in supplies.
Jericho Road Community Health Center has been fundraising for supplies for the city of Goma, where its clinic is located, including protective equipment, medication and other supplies.
Thanks to a partnership with the organization Direct Relief, there are roughly 17 pallets with $2.5 million in supplies en route to Congo to be received and distributed by Jericho Road.
Dr. Allana M. Krolikowski, CEO of Jericho Road, said access to supplies is the greatest issue right now. The clinic staff is 100% Congolese and continues to work through the crisis not only caring for people’s health, but doing important public safety education.
“We've had lots of people coming for screening, and they're getting education at the same time about the spread of Ebola [and] safety,” Dr. Krolikowski said. “It's challenging in Africa, and in many places around the world. Funerals are super important. Funerals are really important as a way to celebrate that person's life, and to honor and respect them. And people come together, and so to not be able to do that is very challenging for people.”
Ebola can be spread even through contact with a deceased person’s body, which makes treating the sick and honoring the dead both require caution and protective equipment.
People are being screened for Ebola at Jericho Road's clinic and then being sent to other facilities if suspected to have Ebola to protect the health of patients seeking routine care at the clinic. The clinic provides a wide variety of services, especially to those most in need, including "orphans, traumatized children, and widows and their children" according to Jericho Road's website. The facility includes a surgery center, birthing suites, an ICU, pharmacy, radiology and more.
The supplies will ensure workers can stay safe and continue their work, as well as support those on the frontlines of treating Ebola at other facilities.
However, the dismantling of USAID last year continues to have a ripple effect, from the ground efforts in Congo to contain Ebola, to the organizations here in the U.S. trying to support them.
Dr. Krolikowski, a family medicine physician who has also worked abroad, said while they did not receive USAID funding, all of the funding sources for organizations doing international health work are being squeezed harder after the decimation of USAID.
“Now, organizations who are doing really good work are all essentially asking philanthropists for the same pots of money or going to foundations and grants that are open,” Dr. Krolikowski said. “They're seeing spikes in the number of people who are applying, the number of organizations who are applying, for these same sources of funding.”
Krolikowski said they continue to fundraise for their staff and other nearby centers who are working through the crisis with limited supplies.
