Lucille Latham
Coffee County Family Services

Grantee Spotlight

7001 Corporate Dr. Suite 120, Houston, TX 77036 Phone: 713.773.0803 Fax: 713.271.5422 Website: www.hopechc.org

Brief history:

In 1994, three Asian American women founded the Asian American Health Coalition (AAHC) with a dream to one day establish a community health center that would provide linguistically appropriate health care to low-income and uninsured Asians in Houston, Texas.  In October 2002, the AAHC, in collaboration with the Chinese Community Center and the Chinese Baptist Church, established Project HOPE (Helping Other People through Encouragement). As volunteer health center, HOPE Clinic provided basic primary care services to a limited amount of patients one or two times a month. With support of the community HOPE Clinic played an important role during hurricane Katharina by providing services to over 3000 evacuees. Today HOPE Clinic is a professionally staffed and full-time community health center providing services regardless of the ability to pay, in particular the uninsured, underinsured, those with limited English proficiency, and the low-income. HOPE Clinic provides culturally and linguistically appropriate health services to Houston’s different ethnic groups largely in particular Asian.  29% of the population served at HOPE Clinic has an income below the federal poverty level (FPL) and 60% are below 200% of the FPL.  69% of the residents in the service area speak a language other than English at home, and over 50% are foreign-born.  To meet the unique needs of this population, the Clinic offers services in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Spanish.

HOPE Clinics priority population is at increased risk for many cancers. Foreign-born women living in the U.S. are less likely to have Pap tests to detect cervical cancer than women born in this country. Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian American females. Vietnamese women have the highest rate of cervical cancer of any group, race, or ethnicity. Liver cancer usually caused by exposure to the Hepatitis B virus, disproportionately affects Asian American men, who experience a liver cancer rate 9 times higher than the White population.  While Houston is home to some of the cutting edge cancer treatments, this population has limited access to it due to language, transportation, economical and cultural barriers. HOPE Clinic has taken an active role to eliminate cancer disparities in the Asian community by creating the award winning Phoenix Project in 2003.  The Phoenix project was funded by Komen Foundation Houston Affiliate in 2003 to outreach and offer mammogram screening to the low income and uninsured Asian women. In 2006, with additional grants from the Avon Foundation and Texas Cancer Council, the project was expanded to include clinical breast examination as well as increase number of educational contacts to more than 4,000 women and the general public regarding the importance of mammogram screening and other updated information about research and treatments of breast cancer. In collaboration with the Rose Diagnostic Center, the project has provided about 2,000 free mammograms over the past 5 years, as well as free diagnostic tests and treatment for women with abnormal results. The Phoenix Project also provides access to support groups and social services by partnering with local support and mental health groups. HOPE Clinics cancer program includes cancer screening for liver, colon, cervical, prostate and skin cancer, and is constantly seeking new partnerships to better serve the community. In 2007 HOPE Clinic and 5 of its partners received a grant from the prestigious Kellogg Foundation to address the cancer disparity in the Asian community by capacity building and systems change.

The mission of HOPE Clinic is to improve the health of residents in greater Houston through culturally and linguistically appropriate services.  The HOPE Clinic’s hours of operation are 9:00 to 5:00pm, Mondays and Fridays, and 12:00am to 8:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The clinic also opens one Wednesday and one Saturday a month and provides free mammogram screenings.

The services provided by the clinic are:

• Primary health care to all life cycles
• Preventive services to all life cycles
• Immunizations
• Well woman exams
• Well child exams
• Discounted diagnostic services
• Cancer Screening and education
• Mammography services
• Linguistically/culturally appropriate services
• Sliding discount fee services available
• Case management
• Eligibility assistance