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\u201cOnce we got settled in Shelbyville, going back to work wasn\u2019t on my radar. I told everyone in Los Angeles that the only way I would go back was the job would have to knock on my door and drag me out. In 2018, we met Mrs. Gladys Flack, and she introduced me to her daughter, Mrs. Fredia Lusk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lusk has served as the executive director of the Community Clinic of Shelbyville and Bedford County (CCSBC) for nine years. Located at 202 Dover St., on the second floor in Suite 202, the CCSBC provides adults living below 200% of the federal poverty level and uninsured individuals with limited medical care. In 2021, the clinic expanded across the hall to Suite 203 to provide dental care. The medical clinic offers preventive care, routine checkups, sports, and employment physicals, mammograms, screenings for lung cancer, and treatments for diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and other conditions. They are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays by appointment only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Mrs. Lusk learned of Simmons\u2019s extensive resume in health care, she was ecstatic and offered Simmons the position of office manager. In October 2023, after receiving a Connecting Forward grant, CCSBC also opened The Other Door. Simmons now manages both. When a family is staring down a utility shutoff, when someone has nowhere safe to sleep, when a crisis hits, this nonprofit steps in to offer short\u2011term financial help, keeping families stable long enough to breathe again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are a nonprofit medical and dental clinic,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cWe provide care for the low-income, no-income, and uninsured in Bedford County. We assist with the individual needs of each one by providing medicine and, if necessary, sending them to specialists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. We provide full dentures, partials, extractions, and, through The Other Door, we assist with water and electric bills from Duck River Electric, Shelbyville Power, and Atmos Energy. We provide funds to refill propane tanks and Kroger gift cards. We try to assist with today\u2019s needs. We also provide transportation to the specialist. Our medical clinic treats adults 19 to 64 years old, and our dental clinic treats ages 5 and up and accepts TennCare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simmons overflows with generosity and a love for all, but she isn\u2019t reaching into an abundant arsenal stored up from an idyllic childhood. \u201cI didn\u2019t grow up in a loving home,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I was about 10 years old, a woman whom I don\u2019t know told me I was beautiful and that Jesus loved me. At that moment, I promised myself I would encourage others as that lady had encouraged me. I never saw her again, but I can still hear her words ringing in my heart to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides her work at the clinic, Simmons serves on the ministerial staff of Sevier Street First Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Quintin Perkins. Every month, she also mails out 20 to 30 cards. Some of the recipients are strangers, but she uses this method to sow kindness beyond our county lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/3-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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