Reaching underserved Communities

Bend,Ore. – Access to dermatological care has been considerably improved in Central Oregon thanks to a mobile dermatology clinic. Project Happy Face,a nonprofit organization,has been providing free skin cancer screenings and treatment services throughout May,focusing on reaching those who need it most.

The initiative specifically targets populations at high risk for skin cancer, including farmers, ranchers, and individuals whose occupations require prolonged sun exposure.These groups frequently enough face barriers such as cost, transportation, and limited access to healthcare facilities.

Serving Those Who Feed Us

Project Happy face strategically positioned its mobile clinic at the Bend farmers Market to maximize its reach. This location allowed them to screen vendors and community members in a convenient and accessible setting.

We vendors, we do five markets a week. So we’re out exposed daily.

shelley Akers, co-owner of Bohemian Roastery

Amy Snow, founder of Project Happy Face, emphasized the importance of reaching this demographic:

We certainly know that thay’re outside the year-round all day. We know that a lot of them are living in underserved communities. So it was realy favorable to meet at the market and be able to screen all of them in a central location.

amy Snow,founder of Project Happy Face

the organization’s mission is to eliminate barriers and deliver potentially life-saving care to the people who contribute to our community’s food supply.

Early Detection Saves lives

the impact of the mobile clinic has been ample. This month alone, the clinic has screened over 100 individuals, identifying potential skin concerns that require further evaluation.

The key really is early detection and educating everybody on what to look for.

Amy Snow, founder of Project Happy Face

The importance of these screenings was underscored by Zoey Oquist, a vendor from Crow’s Croft in Redmond, who was able to get both herself and her husband screened:

Everything was clean for me, but for my husband, they actually found that they were concerned about. So they cut it out. So we’ll get results hopefully in the next week or two.

Zoey Oquist, vendor from Crow’s Croft

Vendors appreciated the convenience and efficiency of the screenings:

Having this readily available where we can stop for a second, take five minutes to do the screening and find out if we have somthing on our skin or not. And then, go right back to what we loved doing was really awesome.

Looking Ahead

Project Happy Face will continue its outreach efforts by offering screenings at A Time of Hope event this weekend. This cancer awareness walk and community gathering in Prineville aims to raise funds for support services in Crook County.