Expand Well-Being
EXPAND WELL-BEING programs and services that will help residents achieve self-sufficiency
What distinguishes La Maestra Community Health Centers from many other healthcare organizations is its commitment not just to the medical needs of the individual but to their overall well-being. The Circle of Care solution model places self-sufficiency as one of its highest priorities and requires a comprehensive approach to treating each individual.
The new facility is designed to offer a full range of non- medical resources that are core to achieving self-sufficiency. These core resources address basic needs to survive such as food, employment, housing, transportation and language. La Maestra Community Health Center provides ongoing services to ensure that every patient has the opportunity for job training and placement, ESL education, housing assistance, food and transportation resources. The Circle expands even wider so that residents can not only survive but thrive. Programs such as financial literacy education and micro-enterprise training provide opportunities for residents to build new skills and prosper.
“While the health of the community is of significant concern, the potential for residents to become involved in their own well-being, to access resources and to thrive has been proven many times over by those from early generations who are now successfully working and prospering in their new country.”
Zara Marselian, CEO
Representing the most diverse community in the San Diego region, the residents of City Heights have varying ideas of what “well-being” means. Many bring with them traditions and practices from their native countries that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Some of these practices promote health and well-being and result in longer life spans and a high quality of life. Other practices promote chronic disease and compromise quality of life. Although definitions of well-being will continue to be diverse from one culture to the next, there is a tremendous opportunity for residents to find common ground by sharing common definitions and ideas that could in the future be implemented in the City Heights community. A vision for health and well-being in a community that so often is challenged by its immense diversity could have enormous potential for finding solutions in the future. The new facility will make this transformation possible.
Most importantly, the new La Maestra Community Health Center is designed by and for the residents of City Heights. It is already a “hub of the heart” by those who contributed their time and ideas in the “charette” process and will continue to grow as a symbol of community pride by the residents who will use the facility on a daily and weekly basis. The new Center will also provide a forum for discussion, sharing and learning for many visitors. Health professionals, national and local funders and health advocates will want to learn how residents with such diverse cultural backgrounds are defining what well-being means in one of the most under invested communities in the region. Physicians, health and research centers will want to learn more about the practical applications of cultural competency in a healthcare setting – knowledge needed if we are to increase access to care for low-income, immigrant and refugee patients.
The new La Maestra Community Health Center will be the “go to” place for our residents and for many outside of our neighborhoods who understand the need to learn so much more about the “heart” of our underserved communities.