Urban League of the Upstate to Take Over Historic Health Clinic

GREENVILLE (Dec. 19, 2022) – In the time of segregation, there were many everyday heroes that helped, in their ways, to uplift their community.

One of those everyday heroes is Dr. Edward McClaren, founder of the McClaren Medical Shelter, who founded the clinic in 1949.

The clinic became a saving grace for African Americans living in Greenville. Most area hospitals were heavily segregated and didn’t accept African American patients. Dr. McClaren opened up a clinic that directly served his community, and the Urban League of the Upstate (Greenville, SC), along with historical advocates, is now seeking to keep this historical building alive.

Dr. Gail Wilson Awan, President and CEO of the Urban League, recounts the conversations to save this important piece of Black history.

“It started, certainly, before I came. I’ve been here a year. It started with the developer coming down to build apartments…the luxury apartments that are there, and in that process, you know how they have the review boards. It was pointed out that this brick building was some sort of…they weren’t sure…some sort of historic something.”

She said that the developer, upon learning of the historic significance of the building, decided to build elsewhere, and left the original building standing.

The Urban League is now working towards making the space into The McClaren Institute for Health and Quality of Life.

“We want to honor Dr. McClaren’s legacy, providing health access to those that are in most need. Now, we won’t be doing actual medical treatment ourselves, but we will be working with community partners, wellness and health professionals to get people information, services, like pop-up flu clinics, blood pressure readings into the community,” Wilson Awan said. “Also, we will be using it for career development, for workforce development, introducing our students and adults to careers,” she said.

The space will also be used to research inequity in healthcare for communities of color, as well as having the bottom floor be a Black History Resource Center that will highlight the African American history of Greenville.

“It’s a connection to our past. It’s certainly a pathway just to honor the legacy about the importance of quality of health, quality of life, the quality of our health– and how we can all play a part in that,” Wilson Awan said.

To get more information, please read the original article here.