Greetings with Gratitude
We are more than halfway through the Lenten season – a time for reflection as well as preparation – and I have spent a great deal of time thinking on both of these as they relate to what we do at Mercy.
In reflecting upon the last few months I must mention the importance of Congress voting to extend health center funding in February and fixing the cliff for the next two years. Thank you to everyone who called, wrote or emailed your elected officials to show your support of Mercy and the nearly 1,400 health centers and the 27 million patients served! The bipartisan budget deal included $7.8 billion in federal grant funding for the Community Health Center program. With this behind us, we can better focus on what matters most – serving those in need of quality health care in our community regardless of age, medical need or ability to pay.
While we certainly never lost that focus over the past few months, the uncertainty of how we are able to fund the needs of our clients does make it difficult. We now know the federal funding will be there, but Mercy cannot survive on that alone. We need support from our friends and community.
Because of this, we are focusing on our
Angels of Mercy
donor program by which friends are asked to give $100 a month for one year. This will ensure we can provide invaluable care to the more than 8,500 adults and children this year through primary care, mental health services and care coordination regardless of ability to pay. More specifically it will provide:
- Approximately 6 patient visits for those in need of medical or mental health services
- Flu shots for 60 people who cannot otherwise afford one
- Immunizations for 5 children who need them in order to attend school
