GEORGETOWN, Del. - The Rosa Health Center in Georgetown is one step closer to expanding its facilities after a year-long wait, thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Longwood Foundation.
Keila Menéndez, who has worked at the nonprofit organization for six years, expressed immense relief and joy upon receiving the grant.
"When we got the news of Longwood's Grant, it was like a Christmas miracle to us because we've actually been applying to several grants because we do have the vision of expanding The Rosa [Health Center] to help more patients," she said.
The grant will enable the center, which currently cares for 2,000 patients—90% of whom are Hispanic—to increase its exam rooms from two to eight and add a space for group education.
Dr. Rama Peri, medical director at The Rosa Health Center, highlighted the importance of the expansion.
"By having a place where we can talk to them and explain and show, that would be the best way to do education, and that's for me, a personal excitement because that's been a personal dream for me, is to be able to do the education part," she said.
Patients, including Dorotea Escalante Ortíz, look forward to the new facilities.
"This is nice because the space is small, and now there will be more space to care for patients or, let's say, for everyone," Escalante Ortíz said.
The nonprofit organization's goal is to serve the entire community.
"In Georgetown, there's a lot of low-income communities, not only in the Hispanic population, but the Haitian population, African-American population, Caucasian population. So, we're looking towards helping all the community in whatever way we can, and right now, because our size is small, we do have to limit," Menéndez said.
The clinic has also been approved for Community Project Funding and expects to receive $1,082,537 once the federal budget is approved. Plans to start renovations and expansion are set for the beginning of 2024.
Donations can be made through their website for those interested in supporting The Rosa Health Center's expansion.