For many families in Northern Nevada, barriers such as cost, language differences and lack of insurance can make even routine medical care difficult to access. A partnership led by the 夜色视频’s Orvis School of Nursing is helping change that by bringing free, bilingual health services directly into the community while preparing the next generation of nurse practitioners to serve Nevada’s most vulnerable populations.
At the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows’ Pennington Clubhouse on Foster Drive, families can receive free medical care in a familiar and convenient setting. The clinic is led by Nurse Practitioner Vania Carter-Strauss, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, lecturer at the Orvis School of Nursing and director of Latinx Nursing Advocacy and Advancement. She provides care through a faculty practice role that enables clinician educators to continue working with patients as part of their academic responsibilities. Working alongside her is family nurse practitioner student, Marlyn Arce-Gomez.
Vania Carter-Strauss and Marlyn Arce-Gomez in front of the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows
Together, the bilingual providers deliver preventive services and address immediate primary care needs in both English and Spanish, helping remove language barriers that often prevent families from seeking care. The clinic focuses on bridging gaps in care, reconnecting patients with primary care providers and supporting continuity of care through trauma-informed care for victims and survivors of crime.
Although the nursing arm of the clinic launched in February 2026, it has already served nearly a dozen patients and their families. The clinic is currently open on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients do not need insurance, identification or a Social Security number to receive care. Services include general health checkups, diabetes screening, pregnancy testing, prescription and medication reconciliation, as well as referrals to additional resources.
For Carter-Strauss, bringing care directly into community spaces helps build trust and ensure families receive the support they need.
“Access to health care should never depend on language, insurance status or immigration status,” Carter-Strauss states. “By offering bilingual, trauma-informed care in a familiar community setting, we are creating a space where families can seek care with dignity and without fear.
“For me, this work is deeply personal. When families can walk into a space and see someone who looks like them and speaks their language, I see the ease in their face in knowing that they are going to be cared for and understood in their own language. It changes everything about how someone experiences healthcare, even though it represents the most basic standard of equitable care.”
Nevada continues to face high uninsured rates, significant language diversity and shortages of health care providers, particularly in rural and underserved communities. These challenges can be even greater for survivors of domestic violence, child abuse and other forms of trauma, who may need both physical and mental health support.
Through this partnership, nursing providers are embedded within a trauma-informed mental health program that supports survivors of crime and families experiencing economic or social barriers to care. This approach allows patients to receive integrated services that address both immediate health needs and long-term well-being.
The work is carried out in collaboration with the Community Behavioral Health Collaborative through the School of Public Health, as part of its VOCA-funded Resilient Nevada Initiative, led by Jennifer Calloway Ross, Ph.D. The Collaborative has been providing free mental health services within the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and other local non-profits since 2022 through embedding learners and clinical supervisors in these familiar and comfortable locations to meet clients where they are.
Together, this partnership reflects an intentional, intra-university and community-based effort to deliver comprehensive, accessible care while serving as a clinical training site for future nurse practitioners and behavioral health students.
“It’s been a true privilege to be able to work with Vania and the Orvis leadership team to bring this integrated care model to life,” Ross said. “There is such value in providing our learners with opportunities to work together and understand the cumulative value of their professions when they engage in collaborative care models. Our hope is that we can inspire better care across the board through these experiences.”
Nurse practitioner student, Arce-Gomez, works directly with patients under faculty mentorship while building skills in trauma-informed care, culturally responsive practice and interdisciplinary collaboration. The experience represents both professional preparation and a meaningful way to give back to the community.
“The healthcare field has mostly been led by people from privileged backgrounds, which made my experience as a first鈥慻eneration Mexican鈥慉merican woman somewhat isolating and challenging, yet also empowering and motivating to make a difference,” Arce-Gomez said. “This experience helps future providers truly ‘walk a mile’ in patients’ shoes by physically immersing themselves in the culture, strengths and challenges of the communities they serve. It highlights how poverty, immigration status, language and isolation shape both patient outcomes and provider development. Training with a preceptor who shares my background has shown me that my identity is a strength, not a limitation.”
This program embodies The Wolf Pack Way by expanding access to care while preparing future health care providers to serve communities across Nevada.
“Through her faculty practice, Professor Carter-Strauss brings expert, low-barrier care directly into community settings, meeting patients where they are and addressing unmet clinical needs through preventive, primary and trauma-informed services,” Molly Kokenge, Ph.D., RN, associate dean for Strategic Partnerships and Practice, said. “This work has a direct clinical impact by improving access, continuity and trust for families who have historically faced barriers to care, advancing health equity in meaningful ways.
“At the same time, it strengthens community engagement, creates opportunities for practice-based scholarship and supports our education and workforce pipeline by mentoring students in community-centered care. Faculty practitioners bring their clinical expertise to support care delivery today while preparing the next generation of community-engaged providers for Nevada’s future.”
