By: Grace Macklin, 2026 ITF intern at Good Samaritan Clinic
I should have seen it coming, but wishful thinking kept me from doing so. The biggest issue I witnessed this summer was the chronic lack of resources available to essential programs like the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program (NCFHP). At my placement with the Good Samaritan Clinic, I worked alongside three women, Karina, Sandra, and Maria, who led the NCFHP in their region. Together, they were responsible for connecting more than 1,500 farmworkers to healthcare. They work tirelessly with the limited resources available to them.
We were constantly running out of essential supplies, and there was always the looming question of what the budget could sustain and what simply could not be afforded. Could we afford to order more electrolyte packets? The health department only provided 100 condoms each month. Would they last until then? At one point, my mom even mailed a care package with 100 travel-sized tubes of toothpaste because we had completely run out.
One lesson from constantly working with limited resources has stayed with me. During an outreach visit, our provider told me, “You have to work with the tools you have in front of you. Forget what you don’t have. You don’t have it.” That mindset defines the people I met this summer. Humanitarians at heart, they refuse to let limited resources prevent them from caring for others. Every day, they found creative and brilliant ways to ensure farmworkers received healthcare with whatever they had available.
Although my role was small, I was grateful to take on many of the time-consuming tasks that kept the program running. Driving patients to appointments, enrolling farmworkers in the program, and entering information into online systems allowed my supervisors to dedicate more of their time to projects that required their expertise. I could see the difference it made. They had more time to focus on initiatives they deeply cared about, like helping farmworkers access free dental care and coordinating services for patients with urgent medical needs. They are a small team with an enormous responsibility, and I’m glad I could help.
As I finish this program, I find myself asking how I can continue supporting my friends at the Good Samaritan Clinic and SAF. I hope to contribute by conducting research or creating other deliverables that demonstrate the consequences of funding cuts and chronic underinvestment in programs like the NCFHP. The reality is that these programs do not need people to work harder because they are already doing that. They need sustained funding and legislation that protects and expands the work they do. Farmworkers deserve consistent access to quality healthcare, and the people serving them deserve the resources necessary to make that possible.