During Jubilee’s recent strategic planning process in 2018, they wanted to ensure their next big moves were community-led, so they posed the question to their neighbors: What do you want to see in your neighborhood? Overwhelmingly, surveyed residents responded that a healthcare clinic would be one of the most impactful service in improving their lives.
Now, over a year into the pandemic, the case for a clinic is clearer than ever as our current crisis exposed how the inequities that have been allowed to persist in our city have created a dire health environment for our most vulnerable. That is why Jubilee is excited to announce the Jubilee Clinic-- a novel partnership between Jubilee Park and Community Center and Parkland that will bring quality, accessible healthcare to so many in Southeast Dallas.
Last week, we sat down with Jubilee’s Health and Wellness Manager, Alejandra Saldaña, to talk about health in Southeast Dallas and how the Jubilee Clinic will help address the biggest challenges in achieving community health for her neighbors in Jubilee Park.
Haley Coates-Huseman, CAO: Tell us a little bit about your story.
Alejandra Saldaña, Health and Wellness Manager: I was born and raised in Southeast Dallas and actually grew up attending Jubilee’s afterschool programs. I’ve always been interested in health, so when I went to college at Syracuse University I majored in Health and Exercise Science with a coaching minor.
HC: Can you explain your current role at Jubilee?
AS: I’m tasked with all things related to our Health pillar at Jubilee. My vision is to expand health education classes and healthcare access to prevent chronic diseases. I am especially cognizant of prevention because of how chronic disease complicates other illnesses like COVID.
HC: Can you tell us about the need for healthcare and health resources in the Jubilee Park neighborhood?
AS: There very much is a need. I can’t count the number of times my mom and I stood outside the health clinic early in the morning in hopes of being seen for something most people can just make an appointment for. I grew up thinking this was normal because everyone around me was doing the same thing, but through working at Jubilee I realized this was not what everyone experienced.
I remember working at Jubilee, one of my clients, let’s call her Ms. Doris, came to me for help when she was having a really hard time accessing healthcare. She started telling me about how she was having intense stomach pain for a month and was not able to be seen by a provider. Because she was working full-time and basically raising her two children alone, she had avoided going to the doctor because it was too big a financial burden to take off work and take the hour trip to the clinic. She ignored the pain until it became unbearable so she took that trip to the clinic only to be turned away and scheduled for an appointment a month out. Because of the amount of pain she was in that wasn’t an option for her, so she returned at dawn again to try and get seen. As I was thinking about Ms. Doris I began thinking of my own experience and I realized you could do everything “right” and still find yourself unable to break free from your circumstances. I graduated. I have a job. I have insurance. But I am still in that line at 6 in the morning, looking over my shoulder because it’s dark outside and unsafe. It sparked that realization for me that this baseline of lacking [basic healthcare] access is not normal, and it’s not okay.
I began researching basic inequities in healthcare and learned that between our community and just a mile away in Lakewood the life expectancy difference is 20 years. That shocking number is the reason why I’m here.
HC: Can you give us a “tour” of the Jubilee Clinic?
AS: The Jubilee Clinic will be a 15,000 SF facility. When you walk in on the first floor, you’ll be greeted by a culturally competent receptionist who will help connect you with the resources that are on-site. You will also find the primary healthcare clinic that will provide pediatric through geriatric care through Parkland. As you walk upstairs to the second level, you will see a large room where we will be offering things like family cooking classes, meditation, and more that will be run through Jubilee, as well as Jewish Family Service mental health counseling offices.
HC: Why is a health clinic so important to our community?
AS: It’s important to provide that point of access for our community. Current clinics in the area are difficult to get to, and transportation is a big barrier. The client to provider ratio [in Southeast Dallas] is overwhelmed, so providers do not have the time or the resources to properly care for our neighbors.
The Jubilee Clinic will offer a level of holistic care that does not exist, providing both clinical care and health and wellness services like nutrition classes, exercise classes, etcetera, to make sure we are addressing every aspect of what it means to lead a healthy, quality life. It’s going to be so huge in making that generational shift.
We want to provide those services to tackle one, disease prevention and two, navigating the healthcare system. The idea is to provide those services to break the cycle of health inequity for our neighborhood. We want to not just prolong life, but make it a well-lived life.
To find out more about the Jubilee Clinic, click here.