The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and Sikh Health Network (SHN)have collaborated to enable young Sikh health ambassadors to start health and wellness clinics at their local gurdwaras. 

As part of the collaboration, SALDEF’s SikhLEAD 2023 summer internship program candidates will organize, run, and sustain six health and wellness clinics around the USA in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, California and Florida by collaborating with the Sikh Health Network, a non-profit organization based in California since 2019.

These clinics will provide free medical services by volunteer medical professionals which include physicians, nurses, and dentists. Over the past year, SHN has helped in establishing three Gurdwara clinics in California with 100+ volunteers and 2000+ patient counters, an official statement noted.

The donations collected will primarily help with training the SikhLEAD health ambassadors to plan and facilitate the clinics. Additionally, the funding will be utilized to obtain the necessary equipment required for these clinics such as electronic medical records, telehealth platform, training resources and medical supplies. 

As Seva is an integral part of the Sikh identity through the SEVA clinics project, the health ambassadors will be able to address the numerous health challenges that the community faces. This project will have a direct impact on hundreds of families through the health clinics and will serve as an important stepping stone in improving community health and health equity. Each Gurdwara clinic will need $3,000 to support a one-year clinic operation ($1500 upfront cost and $1500 for recurring cost for replenishing the Clinic supplies). 

SALDEF is a national Sikh-American impact organization headquartered in Washington, DC,  focused on building leadership and capacity in the Sikh-American community. Its mission is to empower Sikh Americans by building dialogue, deepening understanding, promoting civic and political participation, and upholding social justice and religious freedom for all Americans.