On a sweltering July morning, the joyous sound of more than 800 children filled the air as they descended on Mercy Care Chamblee for the annual Back-to-School Fair. Four years in a row, our youngest patients received brand new backpacks filled with fresh school supplies. But it is more than just backpacks; Mercy Care’s staff…
As the world continues to watch healthcare workers give their all in the fight against COVID-19, many hearts in Atlanta have been inspired to join the battle. Over the last few weeks, Mercy Care has seen an outpouring of support from volunteers and donors who wish to make a difference during this unprecedented time. On…
Jim Kotaska holds up the vibrant, vintage fabrics of his youth — the very same fabric that his mother used to sew her maternity clothes, his father’s leisurewear, and his sisters’ blouses while growing up in North Dakota. Now some forty years later, the fabrics have found a new home. Carefully stitched together into six…
Clinic rotation brings one volunteer full circle. Mercy Care parts this week with our long-standing volunteer, Miller Douglas. Miller, now a student at Emory University School of Medicine, reflects on his myriad of experiences while volunteering over the past six years: “From the front desk to behind a desk, through HR and now on the…
Service runs deep for Dr. Gabriel Onofre. For several years in the early 2000s, he sought to become a monk and dedicate his life to the Mission of Charity Brothers in California — working with Latinos in Los Angeles, and combining spirituality and social change through service. But he first came to Atlanta as a…
Half of the 28 years that Beatriz Leon York has been with Mercy Care was as a volunteer, and the other half has been as a full-time employee. In 1991, after her mother’s diagnosis with breast cancer, Beatriz Leon York saw a need at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, which led her to volunteer at Mercy Care.…
Dr. Mark Holzberg volunteers his time at the dermatology clinic. Seven patients were treated for skin issues between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 28 during the first dermatology clinic day at Mercy Care at Gateway Center. The driving force behind the clinic, volunteer Mark Holzberg, MD, emailed afterward, “You have a great group…
Uncommonly known, Dr. Richard Hansen worked as a juvenile prison guard and lived in a group home for juvenile delinquents while in college, building relationships with this younger, in-need group and ultimately leading to a row of fourteen friends at his wedding. This indiscriminate, non-judgmental approach to service has clearly held up in the 25…
Amidst a broad range of experience in healthcare administration, Tom Andrews stumbled across a novel program in 1988. He had begun working at Saint Joseph’s hospital as an office admin and by fate his desk was next to Nancy Paris, the then-president of Mercy Care. She invited him to experience a new service that brought…
For Dora Llantop, service is about educating and empowering the patient. Formerly a dietician in Peru, Dora found a passion at Mercy Care in 1997 meeting one-on-one with Latina women to talk nutrition and holistic wellbeing. In her three years as a volunteer, this meant seeking patients out in salons, apartment complexes, and laundromats to…
