- Muslim American Social Services Clinic provides free healthcare to uninsured Northeast Florida adults of all faiths
- Serving community for 13 years, the clinic has had 31,000 patient visits to date
It was eight years ago when Tina Barker first heard about Muslim American Social Services Clinic, which provides free healthcare to uninsured Northeast Florida adults of all faiths.
The 55-year-old restaurant hostess had just been diagnosed with Behcet’s disease, a rare disorder that gave her painful ulcers, joint pain, and bladder problems.
Being one of 118,000 uninsured Duval County residents, the Jacksonville’s Muslim clinic offered Barker a life buoy.
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“They’ve just been a godsend,” Barker told JAX Today.
“I used to have 8-10 (ulcers) in my mouth at any given point in time. My joints would hurt so bad just getting up and going to the bathroom was an absolute chore.”
Ever since, she has been receiving a $3,000-a-month medication for free MASS Clinic’s prescription assistance program.
“It takes special people to do what they do. They don’t discriminate. They don’t judge…I cannot praise them enough,” she says.
The clinic first launched in 2010 at Islamic Center of Northeast Florida. Later in 2014, they managed to relocate to a nearby building, expanding to five exam rooms and an array of social services.
“God said, ‘If you have, give back to the people who are in need, and that’s what we at MASS are doing,” says Faisal Sayed, the clinic’s founder and CEO.
Personal Experience
Sayed knows poverty. Growing up in the slums of Mumbai (then called Bombay), he never forgot a stranger’s kindness.
“I had one rupee in my pocket — the equivalent of 2 cents. I was so hungry I could not even take one step,” he says. On a walk home from college, he asked a waiter how much a plate of rice and curry costs. “He saw the need in my eyes, and he said, ‘You know what, this comes free.’”
Approaching its 13th year, the clinic has had 31,000 patient visits to date and is experiencing an uptick in demand.
Today, they have a new goal to fund a mobile clinic for underserved rural communities.
“We have a good life. Now we want to give back what America gave to us,” Sayed says.