Mary’s Center
Mary’s Center, founded in 1988, is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides health care, family literacy and social services to individuals whose needs too often go unmet by the public and private systems. Mary’s Center uses a holistic, multipronged approach to help each participant access individualized services that set them on the path toward good health, stable families, and economic independence. The Center offers high-quality, professional care in a safe and trusting environment to residents from the entire DC metropolitan region, including individuals from over 100 countries, through 7 locations and 1 mobile unit (the Dental Cruiser).
Operating as a Federally Qualified Health Center since 2005, Mary’s Center provides access to health care services regardless of participants’ ability to pay.
Mary’s Center owes their success to a strategy of linking health care to community-based support services while helping family members reach their education goals. Individuals who are healthy and feel supported in their communities become better learners and are motivated to achieve greater economic stability. They have observed that stable families place more emphasis on the educational achievement of their children, thus strengthening the well-being and health of the next generation.
Because the individuals and families we serve often face multiple life challenges, they use a social change model that addresses the many factors that lead to poor health such as poverty, limited education, and few job opportunities.
The mothers who come to Mary’s Center for prenatal care deliver babies with healthy birth weights. Participants with diabetes learn to control their blood sugar levels. Parents who attend various programs increase involvement in their children’s education and watch them graduate from college and lead productive lives. The web of services helps the region save millions of dollars as they prevent child abuse, gang involvement, teen pregnancy and chronic diseases.
Simply stated, Mary’s Center changes lives every day.
To learn more visit maryscenter.org