JUBILEE: EXPANDING OUR HEALTH PILLAR

Jubilee Park and Community Center Announces Expanding Our Health "Pillar"

Article by: Libby Hayhurst, Advancement Coordinator at Jubilee Park & Community

When Jubilee Park resident Alejandra Saldaña returned to Dallas after graduating from Syracuse University in 2017, she felt triumphant. By every measure, she had made it and defeated the odds against her: she had graduated high school, gone to college, and now she was working at Jubilee, the same organization she had received services from as a young teen growing up in Southeast Dallas. “By working in Community Outreach at Jubilee, I wanted to help my neighbors overcome their circumstances, too”. But a frustrating experience with the healthcare system would cause her to rethink whether it was even possible for communities like hers to truly break free.

Needing to see the doctor, Alejandra left her house before dawn to get in line for an appointment. For her, this was normal. Jubilee Park is designated as a Medically Underserved Area by the federal government, meaning that there are too few primary care physicians, a large senior population, and high poverty. Only a small handful of clinics serve the entire Southeast Dallas sector, so getting a doctor’s appointment can take months. Instead, residents gather in front of the clinics before dawn in hopes of a last-minute cancellation or no-show.

When Alejandra was turned away that day, she was tired, sick, and defeated. But she returned the next day, and the next. Waiting for hours outside the clinic, Alejandra realized how similar her experience was to so many of her neighbors that she was serving at Jubilee. She thought of one of her clients, Mrs. Doris, who ignored her abdominal pain before it became too much to bear, and who, like her, waited for days in the hot sun, desperate to be seen. Mrs. Doris stood here, where Alejanra stood, taking days off work and losing pay that she couldn’t afford to lose. When the doctor finally called Alejandra in, she didn’t feel relieved, she felt angry.

“I thought—I went to college. I have a good job. I did not succumb to my circumstances yet I could not seem to escape them, even by doing everything ‘right’,” she recounts. “Three days off of work. Three days standing in a line before dawn. Those three days are what Mrs. Doris and I have in common.”

Alejandra realized she was fighting against a system more far-reaching than she could have ever imagined. Over the next few months, her love of health ignited into a passion, and when Jubilee announced its plan to grow its health "pillar", it was clear that Alejandra should lead the newly expanded initiative as the first-ever Health and Wellness Manager.

In preparation for her new role, Alejandra enrolled in a part-time Master’s in Public Health program and began poring over Dallas County health indexes. What she found was startling. “Our community is twice as likely to be diabetic, and our residents live twenty-two years less than people living just a few miles away. I have watched my family struggle with chronic illness, and I realized it was a much wider

A Farewell to the Rev. Dr. Eric Liles

Dear Friends,

I write to you with the news that the Rev. Dr. Eric Liles will be leaving his position as Associate for Formation at the end of this school year to pursue new ministry opportunities. I am so very grateful for the time we’ve shared with Eric. He has served our Saint Michael community very well for the last four years, and his gifts and skills for ministry will serve him well in his next chapter. Saint Michael has a history of raising up leaders for the broader church, and I am excited to see where the Holy Spirit will lead him next. In early April, we will begin a search for a new Associate for Formation, with the hope of hiring someone in time for the new school year.

Although we can’t have the kind of farewell party I wish we could, you are invited to celebrate Eric’s ministry with a special prayer of thanksgiving and blessing during both morning services on May 16th. Additionally, whenever priests leave a parish, it is customary to make a love offering to them in appreciation for their ministry among us. If you would like to make a contribution to Eric’s gift, please make your check payable to Saint Michael and designate “Liles Gift” in the memo line, and please send your gift no later than April 30th.

As Eric, Allison, Hill, and Pailet prepare for their next chapter, please join me in giving thanks for their presence among us and lift them up in prayer. Our love and support go with them!

With gratitude,

The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata Rector Dear Saint Michael Family,

I write to you today announcing my departure from the church staff at the end of this school year. I’m so grateful for the nearly four years of ministry together. Thank you for all the ways you have supported me, along with Allison, Hill and Pailet. Thank you for the growth we experienced together. Thank you for your questions, your spiritual curiosity, your hunger to be fed by God’s Word and to feed others. Thank you to our amazing clergy for the collegiality, discussions, trust, and prayer. Thank you to our Rector, Chris, for entrusting me with the Formation department. Thank you to our Vice Rector, Ken, for his leadership and support. Thank you to our awesome Formation team for the fun, laughter, and meaningful work together: Jill, Hannah, Chase, Tiffany, Madelyn, Regan, and Mary. Thank you to the Adult Formation Task Force for all their hard work and counsel, especially Kathy Hayes and Elizabeth Lang. Thank you to the Men of Saint Michael for the joy and depth of our studies. Thank you all for your faithfulness to Christ and commitment to discipleship. Your generosity, especially during this past most difficult year, is an inspiration to me and to the wider Church. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chaplain to Saint Michael Episcopal School.

The Liles family will spend the month of June ministering at the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Grand Teton National Park. The rest of the summer and fall hold untold possibilities and opportunities. We are excited for the next chapter of ministry and grateful for this one as it comes to an end.

God’s Peace,

The Rev. Dr. Eric J. Liles Associate for Formation

EXPANDING con't.

problem that a lot of people in our community face. It felt very unfair. I thought, why is this happening?” Under Alejandra’s leadership, Jubilee began researching the barriers that Southeast Dallas residents face when accessing health care. Not only is there a dearth of doctors in the area, but only 20% of healthcare providers in Dallas accept Medicaid. Residents must compete to be seen by a limited pool of providers, while also dealing with obstacles like lack of transportation, lack of paid sick leave, and language barriers.

Alejandra has seen firsthand how a lack of healthcare resources leads to poor outcomes like quality and length of life, but having recently earned a B.S at Syracuse in Health and Exercise Science, she understands, too, the impact of lifestyle on health outcomes. “Our community lacks access to fresh foods. We live in a USDA-designated food desert, and I have struggled to find staples like milk at our corner stores,” Alejandra tells me. Like the city’s disparate investment patterns that have left South Dallas without essential infrastructure like doctor’s offices and grocery stores, she notes that “even the way people eat has a history in racism,” noting how African-Americans fried and salted their foods to kill bacteria and preserve it because they historically lacked access to quality meat and refrigeration.

That is why Alejandra is taking a multi-pronged approach to health at Jubilee. “I am focused on health inequities. Our neighbors deserve to live a well-rounded, healthy life. Health is being emotionally, mentally, and physically well.” In practice, this means that meditation classes are offered alongside aerobic classes, and clients do not simply receive healthy food, but are taught how to prepare fresh ingredients in cooking classes. Offering health-related programming that the entire family can attend in addition to classes targeted at specific age groups is also instrumental in making a cultural shift in health practices.

It may be early days, but the Health pillar at Jubilee has seen enormous growth in 2020 alone. During the height of the pandemic, Jubilee distributed 2,000 healthy meals and bags of groceries a week, and at the time of writing this article, had distributed at least 1,000 meals and bags of groceries in the last two weeks in response to Winter Storm Uri. You can help by donating to fuel our health programming at jubileecenter.org/donate or by stocking our food pantry at jubileecenter.org/ community-pantry.

By teaming up with health partners and practitioners, Jubilee has also hosted pop-up health clinics ranging from teeth cleanings to cancer screenings. The response to these pop-up clinics has been enormously positive, sparking an initiative to build a health clinic on Jubilee’s campus. For people who have grown to distrust the healthcare system, getting your flu shot at a place you attend BINGO or send your kids to play can be a lot lower stress than visiting a doctor’s office.

“I'm taking an equity-focused perspective in our Health programs. Bringing health justice to our neighbors—that is the end goal, our North Star.”

Are you a medical professional interested in hosting a pop-up clinic? Are you interested in donating medical or hygiene supplies? Email hello@jubileecenter.org to get involved!