When the doors first opened a decade ago, Hippocrates Medical Clinic was established in Kankakee with the overarching mission of changing lives.

Since 2016, the volunteer-driven organization has been providing medical and therapeutic services to the uninsured and underinsured residents of Kankakee County and surrounding areas through a patient-centered, caring and compassionate environment.

“We went through some rocky roads,” Dondi Maricle, the organization’s board president, said of Hippocrates’ trajectory. “But we now have providers. They’re both wonderful.”

Dr. Clarence Parks serves as the physician at Hippocrates, and Regina Brown provides her services as a physician’s assistant.

Giving back has been a part of Hippocrates’ connective tissue from the get-go. The spirit of service is demonstrated on the organization’s website, where a quote from French writer and philosopher Voltaire is displayed: “Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do.”

Hippocrates Medical Clinic was recognized as an Innovator in Social Services in The Daily Journal’s 2026 Progress Awards, based on the clinic’s approach toward weathering challenges and ensuring patients of all backgrounds receive the critical services they need.

Maricle said it has been gratifying to have the clinic grow within Kankakee and give patients the care they need.

“It breaks my heart that we have a lot of people who are uninsured, or they have high deductibles,” she said.

The organization functions on the premise of not turning someone away if they are unable to pay for the services provided.

“We don’t charge for anyone to come,” Maricle said. “We do ask them to cover, if they can afford it, the cost of the labs, which is provided through the University of Chicago. They give us a very cheap rate, which we are grateful for.”

As Hippocrates has inched toward its milestone year, Maricle said the organization has been serving an ever-growing number of patients throughout the community.

“Our patient clientele has grown so much since just July,” she said as she reflects on events of the past year. “We have more new patients coming in than we do existing patients.”

Along the way, Hippocrates’ on-site volunteers and experts all too often hear the challenges patients face with healthcare and the cost of covering prescription medications.

Maricle recounted a recent conversation she had with a patient who had been discharged from a hospital and was only able to pay for a small fraction of the medication he had been prescribed.

“It kind of broke my heart that the hospital just released him and didn’t make sure he had everything he needed,” she said.

As is often the case in the world of nonprofits, Maricle said partnerships and collaborative arrangements with other area organizations have been a critical backbone to Hippocrates’ endurance in the community throughout the past decade.

Case in point: Hippocrates has an arrangement with a local pharmacy to help provide affordable options to patients in need of specific medications.

“All of the nonprofits in the area work together wonderfully,” she said. “We’ll provide something to them, and vice versa. We have really good nonprofits in this community.”

Believing that changing and shaping lives comes through a holistic approach, Hippocrates also offers more expansive services and outreach efforts than might typically be found at a clinic. The site, for instance, also hosts a food donation drop-off area.

The spirit of dedicated volunteerism and giving back that is woven into the fabric of Hippocrates has also been a key part of the organization’s firm footing in Kankakee.

“Our providers are very passionate about serving,” Maricle said. “They spend the time with the patients – probably more time than most doctors do.”

Looking to the future, Maricle said a top-of-mind goal within the organization is to operate on a full-time basis and have in place a broader mix of providers, particularly as the client base continues to grow.

Hippocrates is open by appointment Monday through Thursday in the afternoon. The clinic also is open Friday evenings and Saturdays.

Alongside the collaboration and volunteerism, Hippocrates has applied for and received grants to help fortify its mission. The state, for instance, recently provided a grant available to free clinics.

“That’s helped us grow a little bit, too,” Maricle said. “Every little bit helps. We’re getting there – we’ll get there.”

For more information, visit hmckankakee.wixsite.com/hmckankakee.