Mary's Center social change model: A culturally harmonious response for the betterment of lives of new immigrant communities

Began in 1988 as a small health clinic for Latino women displaced by civil wars and natural disasters in Central and South America, today, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care (MC), now a Federally Qualified Health Center in the District of Columbia, is a non-sectarian, nonprofit health care center serving immigrants all countries. Each year, Mary's Center serves nearly 10,000 clients through a variety of culturally and linguistically appropriate medical, educational, and wrap-around social services that allow families to thrive. Achieving optimal health for immigrants is uniquely challenging due to language barriers; lack of security; limited health insurance; loss of traditional supports; weakening of families due to unreliable income sources; poor and crowded living conditions; and intergenerational differences in the acculturation process. The combination of these stresses results in fewer positive outcomes for children and severe disparities among immigrant health compared to the general population. Mary's Center approaches these challenges by working from a Social Change Model, which focuses on strengthening individual and family development through improving physical and emotional health, interpersonal relationships, literacy levels of children and their parents and greater economic opportunities. When parents face strong barriers, Mary's Center proactively engages the entire family to create small, achievable outcomes for the family in order to provide hope for their future. This paper aims to present the Mary's Center's Social Change Model as a culturally harmonious response for the betterment of immigrant communities, while discussing its strengths and weaknesses that are dependent on changing political environments.