Baptist group partners with agency to provide services for Oklahoma City's homeless

On Tuesday, several leaders with the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship dedicated a new Mobile Healthcare Unit and Charitable Clinic at the Homeless Alliance's WestTown Resource Center for the Homeless, 1729 NW 3.

The mobile unit will meet the medical needs of homeless clients at WestTown through a partnership between the fellowship and Healing Hands, an agency that operates with federal grant funding.

Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, said the mobile unit helps expand WestTown's mission to provide comprehensive services to the homeless.

“It's all about collaboration,” he said. “That's really the beauty of the mobile unit, because you have both Healing Hands and Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship.”

Dr. Fred Loper, the fellowship's executive director, is the volunteer physician who treats homeless patients at WestTown. Loper said WestTown clients are treated in the mobile unit on Tuesdays.

The Oklahoma City-based fellowship is made up of health care professionals from across the nation and many Christian denominations who volunteer for medical mission efforts in the United States and other countries.