“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap,
if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:9 (ESV)
We have always been thankful for the dedicated and talented group of people God has brought here to work at Esperanza Health Center—and now, that appreciation is greater than ever. Our best efforts of planning for our future could not have prepared us for what we are facing now with the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to this crisis while still providing ongoing care to our patients and community has required perseverance, flexibility, and deep commitment.
Although we do grow weary, we persevere because God promises that we will reap in due season, as the scripture says. Esperanza has endured hardships before; almost a year ago we celebrated our 30
th anniversary and recalled God’s faithfulness through many difficult periods. Our history reminds us to persevere and we will, with God’s help.
Flexibility is the name of the game as we make changes—sometimes daily—in how we provide care and add new services. Many of our patient visits are now done through telehealth, while others take place in the clinic with new procedures in place to keep everyone safe. We have added COVID-19 testing at all sites, including drive-through testing at our Hunting Park location, and outreach testing in Kensington. Our Community Health & Wellness department delivers food bags and checks in with members of our seniors’ group, which is unable to meet weekly like they used to.
The commitment of our Esperanza family is inspiring. We recently entered into a partnership with Rock Ministries to provide free walk-up testing in a tent next to their building and close to our Kensington health center. We asked our staff to let us know if they want to serve there and the response was immediate. Jonathan Montenegro (photo below, C) said this about his commitment to work there:
“At my interview 13 years ago, I said I would do whatever needs to be done and that hasn’t changed. That’s why I am here, there’s a need.”
