St. Mary Health Center supporters, volunteers protest outside Basilica of Saint Mary

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A week after St. Mary Health Center volunteers stacked pickup trucks with dental equipment and decades worth of medical records, they spent Sunday morning protesting outside the Basilica of Saint Mary, distributing informational fliers to churchgoers.

The goal, they said, was to bring awareness to the months-long feud the clinic has been embroiled in with the church, which has included an eviction notice, a restraining order and the locks to the clinic’s doors getting changed.

“It broke my heart the way they went about it, the way they handled the situation,” said clinic volunteer Kimberly Nunez.

The church, and Diocese of Raleigh, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The fliers explained the clinic’s view of why they’ve been “locked out” of the center and forced to move. It criticizes Pastor Thomas Davis, saying he gave “no empathy and no offer to help” the health center find a new location.

“The name that was a source of pride for the parish and community, St. Mary’s Dental Clinic, is gone for good,” the paper reads.

Joe Sweeney, a member of the church who helped organize the protest, said it was purely awareness-based, so other churchgoers can understand what’s happening.

“After 30 years of providing free dental clinic services here, we felt it was really unfortunate that this was taken away from the parish and from the community,” he said.

There’s a “high need” for the clinic in Wilmington, Nunez said. It’s the only location east of Raleigh that offers surgical dental care to low-income patients. Its recent closure is expected to leave hundreds of patents without care, according to clinic leaders.

“If you’ve ever had a toothache, or pain in your mouth, and you needed help and you didn’t have the money, there was nowhere to go in Eastern North Carolina except for St. Mary’s Dental Clinic,” Sweeney said. “And that’s why we’re so passionate about them.”

Now, clinic leaders are focused on finding a new location near downtown. Executive Director Laura Vinson said last week they’re hoping to announce that in the next few weeks.

“This can’t continue,” the flier reads. “Please pray for the Clinic to have a speedy return to serving the needy.”