Mold Remediation in Athens, GA

Longstanding partnerships with community organizations have provided free health care since 2018

Fulfilling its commitment to the underinsured and uninsured of Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas, the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership’s Athens Free Clinic surpassed the milestone of delivering more than $1 million of health care since its opening in 2018. The Athens Free Clinic connects Medical Partnership students and faculty with sites across the community to provide primary care.

“We could not have reached this mark without our team of faculty physicians, staff nurses, medical students, undergraduate volunteers, community partners and the support of leadership at the medical school,” said Dr. Suzanne Lester, medical director of the Athens Free Clinic. “We have helped community members receive high-quality primary care without incurring medical debt, and we have improved access to treatment for acute and chronic medical conditions.”

Several staff and faculty members play critical roles in setting health care providers’ schedules, coordinating with community partners and providing medical care. Jeni Fitzpatrick serves as the registered nurse and teaching operations manager, Dr. Kate Meixner is an assistant professor of family and community medicine and Jen Brown is a registered nurse and teaching clinic coordinator.

Medical Partnership faculty and students provide primary health care at local community partner sites including the Acceptance Recovery Center, Advantage Behavioral Health Systems, Bigger Vision Community Shelter, Cedar Shoals High School, Clarke Central High School, Clarke Middle Health Center, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Foothills Charter High School, Nuci’s Space, Pinewoods Community, Potter’s House and Project Safe.

“Beyond providing more accessible health care in our community, I hope that our services have contributed to our communities feeling more empowered in their health care and more trusting of doctors,” Lester said.

Since 2018, more than 330 medical students and 19 faculty members have conducted more than 4,400 patient visits through the Athens Free Clinic.

“It really feels amazing to witness the profound impact our team is making on the Athens community,” said Fitzpatrick, who coordinates the volunteers for the clinic. “The fact that we can teach our medical students while simultaneously providing free medical care to the community is incredibly rewarding.”

In February 2021, the Athens Free Clinic began administering COVID-19 vaccines. Faculty and students administered vaccines at the Department of Public Health, Athens Community Council on Aging, Potter’s House, Columbia Brookside, Bethel Village and other community sites. The clinic also partnered with the Clarke County School District to administer vaccines to faculty, staff, students and families. Overall, the clinic had administered almost 4,000 vaccines.

“Since the Medical Partnership opened its doors in 2010, one of our missions has been to serve our surrounding communities,” said Dr. Shelley Nuss, campus dean. “I am so proud of the care provided by the Athens Free Clinic and the hard work of our dedicated faculty and staff. It’s wonderful to see the impact that the Athens Free Clinic has had in making high-quality health care accessible to those in need.”

The Athens Free Clinic’s next milestone will be a ribbon cutting this spring for the opening of the permanent location of the Clarke Middle Health Center.

ArtWork is a FREE workshop series presented in partnership with the Lyndon House Arts Center and Invest Athens (Athens-Clarke County Economic Development) designed for Athens-based artists and creative professionals.

The workshop series evolved from the Lyndon House Arts Center’s Professional Practice Summit for the Arts and a past workshop in partnership with the Lyndon House Arts Center, Invest Athens, Create Athens and Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute held in June 2023.

Upcoming Art Work Workshops

Collector's Panel with Didi Dunphy

5:30pm - 6:00pm Social

6:00pm - 7:00pm Panel discussion

Artist, curator, and collector Didi Dunphy will lead a conversation with local art collectors Kevin Bates, Allen Eaves, Teresa and Charlie Friedlander, and Betsy and Blair Dorminey. The panelists will share insights into their personal collections, discuss their selection process, share where they search for original works of art and their experiences with studio and gallery visits as well as experiences with purchasing original art.

The Lyndon House Arts Center will host this workshop as part of the 50th anniversary of the Juried Exhibition. Attendees are encouraged to network from 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm, with the program-taking place from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

The Art Work professional development series offers free workshops in partnership with the Lyndon House Arts Center, Didi Dunphy Studios, and Invest Athens (Athens-Clarke County Economic Development) for Athens-based artists and creative professionals.

Didi Dunphy is an Athens, GA-based artist and curator with an MFA in Video and Performance Art from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been showcased at major venues like the Atlanta Contemporary and Telfair Museum, with features in Southern Living, Athens Magazine, and design publications such as Elle Décor and Vogue Living. Dunphy is a former professor at Lamar Dodd School of Art and is currently an independent curator for projects like Highlighting Contemporary Art in Georgia. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Hambidge Center and a recipient of the Georgia Governors Award for Arts & Humanities in 2022. Dunphy is represented by Whitespace Gallery in Atlanta.

Previous 2024 Art Work Workshops

Advanced Estate Planning for Creatives & Collectors with Trace Brooks

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Led by attorney Trace Brooks, this workshop covers valuations and gifts, will & trust documents and tax strategies for artists and collectors.

Estate Planning for Artists and Collectors with Trace Brooks

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Led by attorney Trace Brooks, this presentation covers estate planning fundamentals, unique considerations in planning for artists and collectors, and mechanisms for ensuring the seamless transfer of valuable artworks to heirs and institutions - including tax considerations for some of the most common transfer types. Attendees will leave the presentation with a greater appreciation for comprehensive estate planning and a better understanding of how to plan for their unique assets.

Trace Brooks is the Managing Attorney of Trace Brooks Law LLC, an Atlanta law firm dedicated to exceptional client service. Trace concentrates his practice on estate and tax planning, probate, and elder law, and is a frequent speaker on estate and tax planning at local, regional, and national levels. Among other organizations, Trace frequently volunteers with Georgia Lawyers for the Arts in Atlanta and the Center for Art Law in New York.

Public Art & Art Grant Resources with Tatiana Veneruso

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Topics will include, how to apply for public art commissions and manage projects as well as resources for independent projects and professional development.

Tatiana Veneruso is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, curator and collector living in Athens, GA. She currently works for Athens-Clarke County as Public Art Coordinator. Veneruso believes art is for everyone and works to create more accessibility to art through community focused projects.

Photo Credit - Jennie Cain

Trademark and Copyright Law with Meredith Ragains, Esq.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Since 2013 Meredith Ragains has served as the Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts overseeing legal services, education programs and community relations for the statewide organization. A graduate of Emory University and Mercer Law School Meredith was a litigator for 12 years in the Commercial Litigation practice group at the firm Robins Kaplan. She received the State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Project Award for outstanding work with pro bon clients in 2009. In addition to her work at GLA, Meredith is an adjunct professor at Emory Law School and regularly lectures at the Georgia State University College of Law on intellectual property-related topics.

Small Business Tax & Accounting with Kelli Thompson

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Kelli holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Georgia. With her creative and analytical mindset, she enjoys guiding clients through the steps of business ownership and creating a specific plan to help make a business successful. Kelli has a diverse clientele, ranging from designers, attorneys, social media influencers, and IT experts. She strives to implement a tax plan that fits each unique client with a specialty in taxation of individual, business and non-profit accounting.

Kelli is QuickBooks Pro Certified and is a member of the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Turner & Patat, PC

1165 Cedar Shoals Drive Athens, GA 30605 kelli@turnerandpatat.com

Phone: (706) 354-1212

R.E.M. is turning 45 years old this Saturday, which is a perfect time to take a trip to its hometown.

Let's just say, you can get there from here. All it takes is the right frame of mind.

You don't take a trip to Athens. You make a pilgrimage.

Now, get in your car and point it towards Athens, Georgia. You're ready for some driving music like "Driver 8." The world outside blurs past you. The walls are built up, stone by stone. Fields dividing one by one. Take a break when you need to.

Before you know it, you have reached your destination. It's a plain, little parking lot, with a free-standing church steeple.

"We are standing here at the site of Saint Mary's Episcopal church," says Paul Butchart, who gives tours to people from all over the world, who come here for one reason. " It was here in 1980, that R.E.M. played their first show." It was a birthday party of a friend of his.

The church building is long gone, torn down to make way for condos, but the brick and stone steeple remains, a monument to where it all started.

But if you really want to go back to the beginning, to "begin the begin" you're gonna go to Wuxtry Records in downtown Athens. Not the main store, but the boxcar sized building on the side.

This is the exact space where Wuxtry employee Peter Buck met a customer named Michael Stipe, who kept coming back to buy cool records. They struck up a friendship and, in true Athens fashion, formed a band. And in 1987 had their first big hit with "The one I love."

Nick Bonell works here today and, of course, plays in his own band, The Asymptomatics. He says even though it's been 14 years since R.E.M. disbanded, the fans keep turning up.

"All kinds of people come to this store asking questions about the history."

Less than a mile is away is the famous Weaver D's restaurant. There is only one room, and as you walk in, Dexter Weaver calls out to you, "What can I get you, Doll, Baby?"

Squash casserole is on the menu along with a host of other Southern specialties.

Outside the little green brick building hangs the sign with the restaurant's slogan: Automatic For The People. R.E.M. liked it so much, they named an album after it.

Weaver, a tall, jolly man of 70 tells the story as, "we were nominated for album of the year," like he was on the album. "I was! They got the title from me," he laughs. "So, it's we."

R.E.M. even took Weaver up to New York for the Grammys. When he came back home, sacks of fan mail started rolling in. Those who couldn't travel here to eat, ordered T-shirts.

Half a mile down the way from Weaver's restaurant maybe the most iconic REM landmark of them all: The Murmur Trestle, an old wooden railroad bridge immortalized in a black and white, pure Southern Gothic photo on the back cover of their 1983 album.

Today's bridge is a reconstruction, but it looks a lot like the old one. It spans a little creek, in a lush, green ravine. Bring your album cover and take a photo with it. The words ring in your ears. "This is where we walked. This is where we swam. Take a picture here. Take a souvenir."

Happy birthday, R.E.M.

Tags: R.E.M.