Esperança recognizes that there are communities in the United States that struggle daily with unmet health needs. Since 1999, Esperança has been working in the west central Phoenix area to provide underserved families with resources, health services, and preventative education.

Esperança works in communities and neighborhoods that have a high health risk due to the over-representation of many illnesses like diabetes and obesity, and limited access to health resources. The majority of families that live in the community are low-income and uninsured. Accessing health care information and resources is difficult for families due to barriers such as language, transportation, literacy levels, and cost. Preventative dental care is considered a luxury, and due to financial hardship, many family members are forced to share toothbrushes and forego annual cleanings and x-rays. Oral health care is critical to a person’s overall well-being. Many hours of education and employment are missed due to this community’s poor oral health status. Families have limited resources to accessing information regarding nutrition and exercise, and their surrounding neighborhood and environment do not provide healthy options or safe places to be physically active.

Focus areas for the U.S. project include:

• Providing healthy living preventative education order to address the high rates of chronic illness within Latino families in Maricopa County
• Provide preventive education that will improve the oral health of underserved children and adults in Maricopa County
• Helping uninsured families access low-cost and affordable healthcare services in order to prevent costly emergency room visits

We take pride in being part of the effort here in the U.S. to make our own communities healthier. Simply stated, a healthy life is a priceless gift anywhere in the world.