Elon community runs 5K to raise awareness for H.O.P.E. 

Over 230 Elon students, faculty and community members participated in the Run for H.O.P.E 5K on Saturday, April 18 on campus.

H.O.P.E., which stands for Health Outreach Program of Elon, is a student-run pro bono clinic that provides those in Alamance County and the surrounding area with free physical therapy treatment. Services at the clinic are offered to those who have either exhausted coverage for physical therapy treatments, or those who are simply uninsured.

“We’re still very young,” said Jessica Nowak, a physical therapy student at Elon. “Our big goal is to just let everybody know that we’re here, let everybody know that we offer these services, just continue to grow and bring in more patients and more clinicians to volunteer.”

The clinic runs one night per week, for two hours. Its purpose is not only to provide treatment to those who are uninsured, but to also give physical therapy students at Elon real world experience with real patients.

“You have three students that treat you that are overseen by a licensed clinician, that volunteer from the community and you come as many times as you need,” Nowak said.

Approximately 150 of those who participated were students in Elon’s three-year Doctor of Physical Therapy program, as well as most of the DPT faculty.

The race took place at the Gerald L. Francis School of Health Sciences, which is where the H.O.P.E. clinic is also located.