MLB-DDA

The Hope and Life project was launched in September 2009 to support the patients at the Esperanza and Caridad Health Clinic in San Pedro de Macoris.  The clinic does exceptional work in the community providing health services at low prices to community members.  The clinic specifically addresses the needs of the HIV/AIDS population in San Pedro by providing HIV/AIDS testing, patient therapy, patient checkups, home visits, medicine, and overall support.  Through the Hope and Life project with the New York Mets and the MLB-DDA, the Clinic has been able to increase the services it provides to the community at large and specifically the population infected or affected by HIV/AIDS in San Pedro de Macoris.  

As of first quarter FY2010, the Clinic has been able to increase its normal capacity by providing the following additional services.

• 5 Papanicolaou tests
• 15 labartory tests
• 240 pre HIV/AIDs test consults
• 240 HIV/AIDs tests
• 3 images and results
• 30 specialized consultations
• 291 general medicine consultations with patients 

In addition to the specialized medical services the Clinic provides through the Hope and Life project, the New York Mets and MLB-DDA are supporting a new program to provide additional support to patients infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.  The program includes house visits, therapy sessions, food provisions, and the formation and realization of support groups.  The support groups meet once a month and provide an open environment for participants to discuss the challenges they face in their communities and dealing with their illness.  Within the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 the project has implemented one open information session to recruit participants.  The project has successfully enrolled thirty people into the program and they have begun the monthly support group meetings, working in groups of five.  The support group meetings also serve as a platform to provide other information to the participants including workshops on hygiene and family health, within this reporting period the project has executed four of these workshops.  

In addition to the health needs of patients the clinic tries to see each patient’s case in a holistic perspective understanding that many factors of life influence the health of their patients.  For this reason the project also incorporates the Banks of Hope program to provide small loans to patients or their families to support micro businesses.   The clinic makes a clear separation between the staff of the clinic and that of the micro-credit program.  This distinction ensures that the microcredit program does not interfere with the patients’ medical needs and required checkups.  As of the first quarter of FY2010, the clinic has made 10 family referrals to the Banks of Esperanza program. 

The Esperanza and Caridad Clinic is working to increase the project’s sustainability by strengthening its connection to the governmental health program, SENASA.  The clinic hopes to have the government directly employ the new staff working on the Hope and Life project.  

If you would like to learn more about the Esperanza y Caridad Health Clinic, please visit dohnfamily.org/Clinic.aspx or contact Michae and Anita Dohn at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .