Hill Country Women’s Health Collective opens up new clinic

The Hill Country Women’s Health Collective (HCWHC) opened up their new clinic in Wimberley last Wednesday as the organization continues their expansion in helping women in the Hill Country.

As Executive Director Oona Mekas stated, there is a need for women’s healthcare for people who either don’t have insurance or are under insured.

“We saw a need for women’s healthcare for people who are either not insured, under insured, or may not have the right documentation to get insurance,” Mekas said. “Those people are really left out of the equation when it comes to medical treatment and mental health care. We saw the need for it and thought to ourselves ‘How do we offer services?’”

HCWHC started off with humble beginnings by offering classes and workshops at the Wimberley Village Library.

“But it was really hard during the pandemic to get people to come out,” Mekas said. “Then we found a place recently and fixed it up so we are about to open so we can provide medical services with providers.”

It was an emotional moment for Mekas as it has been a dream for HCWHC to have their own building to run operations.

“It’s been a dream all along to have this space,” Mekas said. “Yeah, I might have cried a little bit at the ribbon cutting, because it was tears of joy and gratitude. There were lots of people who showed up I didn’t even know, some people from the chamber of commerce and others from multiple organizations to support us. It felt really good to be acknowledged that this was something the community needed.”

HCWHC offers an assortment of health and mental health services with the goal of lifting racial, language and financial barriers to health care, essential services and education for all women in our community.

“Everyone from midwives, to nurse practitioners, to MDs or social workers when they need it,” Mekas said. “We have someone who is joining our board that is an advocate for people experiencing domestic violence, so it really covers all experiences of wellness and health whether it be physical or mental health.”

Accessibility to these resources are an important factor especially in small communities like Wimberley and in the surrounding area.

“Besides Wimberley, there are a lot of towns like Blanco, Canyon Lake, and going into Dripping Springs where these services are not available for people who don’t have insurance,” Mekas said. “There are a couple of health clinics here in town, but since we are a mostly free and discounted service for people who can’t afford it.”

“If someone comes in with their child who is sick, we can make other referrals to other places.” Mekas continued. “If someone comes with a problem we can’t deal with ourselves we can refer out to someone who can.”

As Mekas pointed out, women’s health is an important issue that sometimes can get overlooked.

“Women’s health is really important,” Mekas said. “It sometimes can be overlooked because people are too busy to get the help they need or because they do not prioritize it in the right way. So if we can bring awareness to it, then it can be more of a common thing to healthcare or mental healthcare when you need it.”

As part of HCWHC introducing themselves to the community, the organization is starting up a clothing swap which was started by Mekas before HCWHC started.

“I used to host a clothing swap before I had this organization formed and the pandemic in Wimberley,” Mekas said. “It would be mostly groups of women who would also bring their kids and sometimes their menfolk but it would be a simple clothes swap where people would bring their clothes then we would go and sort all of it and pick out new things to wear. It’s a way of cleaning out your closet, getting rid of things you don’t need, and giving to someone who might need it.”

“I took that idea and thought what if we made it a fundraiser,” Mekas continued. “It would also bring awareness to the community since we are new in town and be a really fun event. You can bring clothes or show up if you need clothes. There is a $5 suggestion donation that is not needed for entry… It’ll probably be mostly women’s and children’s clothing based, which we have been pushing, on my previous clothing swaps. Whatever children’s clothing is leftover will go to the Barbaras Connection Children’s Closet that they are starting. They are in need of children’s clothing so why not spread the love.

“The Methodist Church was kind enough to host us, and it’s a really great space so we can fit a lot of people as well as having information about our organization but really it is about providing a service to the community which in this case is clothing.”

In the end, the clothing swap will help out everyone involved for both HCWHC and the people in need.

“It’s all about keeping things in the community,” Mekas said. “There are not a whole lot of places that people know of to donate clothes. But just in the last week, we have received huge garbage bags of clothes so people do have stuff to give they just need to know where to send it. Hopefully we can make this a bi-annual event, once in the summer and once in the winter which is a good place to start.”

The HCWHC clothing swap will start Saturday July 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wimberley United Methodist Church.

HCWHC is also looking for volunteers to help sort through the donated clothes this Friday evening and Saturday morning from 10-11 a.m.

For more information, visit the HCWHC Facebook page or call (512)256-3696.