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Introduction
In a multidisciplinary collaboration between medical profession students and the San Antonio Community, we
serve the local Bexar County Immigrant Refugee Community by providing and improving access to medical
and social services.
Refugees are individuals and families who have fled from their home country to escape persecution, violence,
human rights violations, and natural disasters in order to seek a safer life elsewhere. Most relocate to
neighboring nations and establish temporary camps with the hope of returning to their home country when
conditions improve. Others are granted the opportunity to seek temporary or long-term refuge in distant nations
including our own United States of America.
San Antonio is the new home to a growing refugee population with an estimated 800-1000 refugees relocated
here each year. There is an estimated 5,000 refugees in the greater medical center area from many nations
including Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi, Congo, Cuba, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq, Iran,
Nepal and more. They are all supported during their first 6 months with housing, furniture, food, and basic
education. Frequently, when their support is spread too thin, many are lost to follow up and quickly become
part of the American population living in poverty without proper education, jobs, or health care. These families
are ubiquitously underserved and often lack any form of healthcare, sometimes due to lack of knowledge
regarding available resources. They remain unfamiliar to the complex American social structure and frequently
become isolated in tightly knit social groups.
A large group of refugees live locally near Wurzbach and Datapoint roads at facilities like Wurzbach Manor.
This facility has extensive support from the UT Health Science Center Nursing School as well as local refugee
programs. At this stage, therefore, it is most important to encourage access to local healthcare facilities already
in place rather than creating a community clinic.
serve the local Bexar County Immigrant Refugee Community by providing and improving access to medical
and social services.
Refugees are individuals and families who have fled from their home country to escape persecution, violence,
human rights violations, and natural disasters in order to seek a safer life elsewhere. Most relocate to
neighboring nations and establish temporary camps with the hope of returning to their home country when
conditions improve. Others are granted the opportunity to seek temporary or long-term refuge in distant nations
including our own United States of America.
San Antonio is the new home to a growing refugee population with an estimated 800-1000 refugees relocated
here each year. There is an estimated 5,000 refugees in the greater medical center area from many nations
including Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi, Congo, Cuba, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq, Iran,
Nepal and more. They are all supported during their first 6 months with housing, furniture, food, and basic
education. Frequently, when their support is spread too thin, many are lost to follow up and quickly become
part of the American population living in poverty without proper education, jobs, or health care. These families
are ubiquitously underserved and often lack any form of healthcare, sometimes due to lack of knowledge
regarding available resources. They remain unfamiliar to the complex American social structure and frequently
become isolated in tightly knit social groups.
A large group of refugees live locally near Wurzbach and Datapoint roads at facilities like Wurzbach Manor.
This facility has extensive support from the UT Health Science Center Nursing School as well as local refugee
programs. At this stage, therefore, it is most important to encourage access to local healthcare facilities already
in place rather than creating a community clinic.
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