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Agape/Community Care Activities Summary: 2003

In 2004 the Dallas County Commissioners Court and Parkland Board of Managers will make decisions that will have profound and long-lasting impact on Dallas and our clinic. We urge you to be involved in the process.

2003 was a good year at Agape. We provided care in the community as shown below. The value column is based on a community standard cost of care.

Activity
Patients served
Value
Totals
Medical care for illness
5620
$55.00
$309,100.00
Medications provided
5250
$43.00
$225,750.00
Immunizations
1715
$55.00
$94,325.00
Follow-up & home visits 
333
$50.00
$16,650.00
Social work or chaplain care
241
$50.00
$12,050.00
Mammograms
54
$150.00
$8,100.00

The conservative value of traceable services provided in 2003 was $665,975.00. Many services are difficult to quantify, e.g., diabetes classes, parent classes, and CHIP/Medicaid classes and assistance. Volunteer hours are also difficult to quantify and we did not track them every week. Still, the conservative estimates of volunteer hours serving patients are as follows: Lay volunteers gave at least 2,500 hours. Physicians and nurse practitioners gave at least 900 hours. Students from Baylor University’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing Community Care program and from other schools made enormous contribution to the clinic and community.

News & Comments on Services

Midway through 2003 we realized the Agape volunteers were increasingly representative of the community. The community served is more and more a part of the community of solution at Agape.

Community education continued to grow. Baylor students coordinated and provided weekly health-related classes for parents at Zaragoza Elementary School. These classes culminated in a morning seminar on child sexual abuse, family violence, and drugs and alcohol. Other partners in this effort included Children’s Medical Center REACH Clinic, Family Place, Turtle Creek Manor, and Parkland’s East Dallas Health Center (EDHC). It is gratifying that EDHC is replicating much of the Zaragoza project at another area school. Photo: Lupe, the Agape Promotora with a patient; Dr. Plotkin in the background.

Dallas Concilio provided weekly education and outreach on Medicaid and CHIP in the Agape waiting room. Concilio also provided several 4-7 week courses on diabetes for Agape patients.

We held two health fairs and screening events (cancer, cardiac risk, asthma, etc.) at Agape in 2003. Partners in this effort were the YWCA, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Baylor. We also held a back-to-school immunization event in the fall with 281 children vaccinated.

Creaciones de fé (Creations of Faith) continued as an integral part of Agape’s work. Along with providing clinic volunteers, Creaciones was an ongoing source of spiritual support for patients and also the site for counseling and group therapy through Dallas MetroCare and Turtle Creek Manor. Common Grace Ministries provided weekly ESL classes for Agape patients at Creaciones.

Dermatology residents and faculty from UT Southwestern saw 10-20 patients/week throughout 2003. Margaret Kaufmann, MD provided psychiatry services that were very well-received by the community. Medical and lay stalwarts (too numerous to list) continued their fine service to the community.

A major development for 2003 was a partnership between Agape and Jonathan’s Place. Jonathan’s Place provides shelter and treatment for children who have been removed from their homes for abuse or neglect. Agape is providing the intake physical exams (and treatment for illness) for new arrivals to the center. It is a rare privilege to work with staff from Jonathan’s Place.

Agape was a clinical education site for 41 undergraduate nursing students, three nurse practitioner students, two nonprofit management students, and two seminary students. Schools represented included Baylor University, SMU, UT Arlington, TWU, and Dallas Theological Seminary. Middle, high, and home school students gained community service hours and learned in an atmosphere of agape. Former Baylor students returned to volunteer. It was a good year in many ways.

We continued to work with community partners such as the East Dallas Health Center, Church Health Ministries, County Health Department, County Medical Society, and others to improve referrals and sharing of resources and information. The East Dallas Police Storefront remained a major resource. Photo: Mom & children in clinic (traditional way of carrying a baby)

News & Comments on the Board

Early in 2003 we received 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation from the IRS – thanks to Jim Welch of Sheeder & Welch. This means we are no longer operating under the legal auspices of Grace United Methodist Church. However, we remain very much a part of Grace and committed to the original vision as a mission of Grace, evidenced in part by our official name: Grace United Methodist Church Agape Clinic.

In the fall, the clinic celebrated 20 years of service with a reception and awards ceremony honoring volunteers and benefactors. Betsy Julian, a long-time board member was one of two recipients of the Dallas Bar Association’s 2004 Martin Luther King Justice Award for her leadership and dedication in civil rights.

Priorities for 2004

As part of the board’s evolution, we held a board retreat in the fall of 2003. Kathy La Tour, SMU faculty member and a member of Grace facilitated the retreat. We were able to reach consensus on plans for the future, including:

All these are underway.

BIG NEWS!

We have taken a leap into the future through hiring Damariz Macías Z. Propst as the Agape Clinic Director, effective January, 2004. Damariz brings enormous expertise in community services, especially services to Latinos. She also brings energy and dedication to Agape and the community we serve. 2004 promises to be an interesting and fulfilling year for the clinic and community. One last photo: Baylor student & friend at the sex abuse, family violence, and drugs/alcohol seminar @ Zaragoza. Truly a good year.

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