About Us - Types of Projects
The FEMAP Foundation has supported a wide range of projects in the past 16 years. While the initial focus of FEMAP was healthcare, this area is now one of many sectors that we consider critical to improving living conditions of people along the U.S./Mexico border.
Health: One of the most visible projects that the FEMAP Foundation supports is the Hospital de la Familia; a private, not for profit Juarez hospital located within walking distance of downtown El Paso. Due to its central location, it annually serves thousands of Juarez and El Paso patients seeking high-quality, low-cost health care. While the Hospital de la Familia is operationally self-sufficient, its huge volume of growth requires the additional support of agencies such as ours. In 2006, SADEC acquired a second hospital Hospital Santa Maria –SADEC. Both hospitals have a combined:
- 140 doctors of which 65% (92) are specialists in their fields
- 182 nurses
- 196 beds
- 32 medical consultation rooms, six surgical and six expulsion rooms
- 12 labor beds with fetal heart monitors, 14 emergency room beds, 2 ambulances
- Displacia Clinic (Colposcopia, criocirugia and electro cirugia)
- Fully equipped laboratory that conducts 171,000 lab exams a month
- Three imaging units with X-ray, Fluoroscopic, and Ultrasound,
- Both hospitals have Pediatricians, OB/GYNs, and Anesthesiologists available 24-hours a day
- Both hospitals have been certified by the Mexican Secretary of Health as teaching hospitals
751,846 medical services were provided in 2007. 503,845 (67%) were provided at Hospital de la Familia, 212,429 (28%) were provided at Hospital Santa Maria-SADEC and 35,572 (5%) received medical care at the primary care clinic.
Economic: The potential for empowering women is intimately related to their financial independence. This led SADEC to consider the importance of implementing an Economic Development program made up by organizing groups with similar ideas formed in the Community Banks and Micro-Enterprises program. This program was developed and is implemented by an institution that addresses the community’s problems from a comprehensive point of view that includes health, protecting the environment and encouraging Economic Development as substantial elements for encouraging the empowerment of women and their families. In 2007 the Economic Development program provided support to a total of 705 micro-entrepreneurs with technical assistance, training and with a revolving loan fund for $430,000 US dollars, an action that provided direct financial benefits to 6,307 persons.
The community banks program began 1987 with the purpose of enabling the institution’s target population to improve family income, and thus be able to improve their quality of life. In the 20-year history of this project, SADEC-FEMAP has organized hundreds of community banks, with more than 5,000 members and has created 7,000 jobs.
Promotora Program: Since 1973, the non-profit agency Salud y Desarrollo Comunitario (SADEC), has sought to raise the quality of life among low-income residents of Cd. Juárez, Chih, Mexico. Its Promotora Voluntarias (Community Health Volunteer) model, also established in 1973, is famous throughout the world. FEMAP’s Promotora program is a women’s volunteer movement that operates at the grassroots level to teach about topics such as reproductive health issues and self-esteem, while providing awareness and access to health care throughout Juarez colonias. The program has approximately 1,200 volunteers.
While the organization began by focusing on women by providing maternal and child health, it has grown to serve the community in all aspects of health, as well as economic development, education and research. Throughout its 36-year history, has worked with individuals living in extreme poverty and in urban and marginalized areas of Cd. Juarez. The current project would expand the number of women trained to be Promotoras to meet the goals of (1) addressing health disparities by educating and empowering community health volunteers. In turn, the women ensure that their neighbors have access to preventive medical services, family planning and health education; (2) hrough the participation of SADEC the women host health fairs for marginalized and impoverished members of the community. If there is no nearby community center or school, the community health volunteers turn their homes into make-shift clinics. Cervical and breast cancer detections are conducted as well as diabetes and cholesterol screenings and (3) train women as leaders, catalysts and public advocates for those who do not have a voice.
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