If I wake up in the morning and I’ve got an unusual pain in my knee, or a tick bite I missed with a ring around it, I call my doctor and schedule an appointment. And because I have health insurance, my only concern is following my doctor’s advice and getting well.

But if I woke up in the morning with pain in my knee or a tick bite and had no health insurance, I might be in a bit of a panic. The tick bite would mean a trip to an urgent care center or emergency room, adding to my growing list of unpaid bills. The knee pain? I’d wait and hope it would get better.

If we are fortunate enough to have health insurance, it’s easy to forget the worry that not having insurance can bring. There are 106,000 Mainers with no insurance according to a 2018 Maine Health Access Foundation data brief. That’s one in every 12-13 people.

Here is the reality for some of the people living in our community who do not have access to health insurance:

There is the person was unexpectedly laid off from their job with no other job in sight. Or he or she might find another job, but it’s only 29 hours per week (considered part-time) and therefore offers no health benefits.

And there is the person who has three part time jobs to keep ahead of expenses, but none offer insurance. A 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 74 percent of uninsured workers work for an employer that does not offer health benefits.

It is the wife who has a full-time job with benefits, but the premiums are too expensive. Studies have shown that 90 percent of people who decline benefits say that it is because the cost is too high. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in the last 10 years, workers’ share of premiums for family coverage have increased 78 percent.

It is a 57-year-old man with no children, who can no longer work because of a chronic medical condition. He is cannot afford insurance through the Affordable Care Act and is not eligible for MaineCare nor Medicare.

It is someone who is homeless or struggles with stable housing.

It’s the lobsterman, the fisherman, the housecleaner, the personal care attendant. It’s those in our community who work for themselves seasonally only to find job opportunities dry up when the tourists leave or the weather changes.

These are the people who walk through the doors of the Oasis Free Clinics every day. We serve uninsured adults with low income who live in Brunswick, Harpswell and the Islands, Freeport, Durham, and Sagadahoc County. Our goal is to provide compassionate care to those who need it so they can have healthy, productive lives.

Initial appointments with a provider are an hour with subsequent visits 30 minutes long. Our providers take the time our patients need for comprehensive primary care. They connect our patients to our other services, including dental and prescription assistance services, as well as nutrition counseling.

Our patients don’t get bills. They don’t make co-pays, and there is no payment plan. “When we say free, we mean free,” is often said at Oasis.

For many in our community, money is tight, and resources are very limited. So they put off taking care of aches and pains. Until they can’t.

And that’s when we at Oasis Free Clinics open our doors and say, “Welcome.”

We are located at 66 Baribeau Drive in Suite 5b. For more information, visit us at at www.oasisfreeclinics.org, e-mail us at oasis@oasisfreeclinics.org, or call us at 207-721-9277.

Connie Jones is an Oasis volunteer. Giving Voice is a weekly collaboration among four local non-profit service agencies to share information and stories about their work in the community