History
Esperanza Health Center began under the leadership of Dr. Carolyn Klaus in the mid-1980s. Dr. Klaus, working with a number of concerned health professionals from several urban Philadelphia churches, recognized that the residents of North Philadelphia's Latino community faced a significant lack of access to affordable primary health care services. They discerned the need for a holistic, high quality, and culturally-sensitive health center to serve this primarily Spanish-speaking community. A Robert Wood Johnson Foundation start-up matching grant, along with broad support both within and outside of this community, enabled Esperanza to begin operations. Esperanza opened its doors in June 1989 on N. 5th Street in North Philadelphia, the main Latino commercial section of the city known as El Centro do Oro ("Center of Gold"), as a small walk-up clinic with two physicians.
Over time, word spread that Esperanza offered affordable, bilingual primary care. During the 1990s, as the number of patients continued to increase the health center eventually outgrew its original site on N. 5th Street nd moved to a new location in the Juniata Park section of the city.
Over the next several years at this new location, the health center continued to grow and expand its services. In 2005, Esperanza learned of a former medical clinic on N. 5th Street, just across the street from the health center's original location, which had been abandoned and had become available for sale. After prayerful consideration, the decision was made to purchase and renovate the building to create Esperanza's new satellite office location. In September 2006, this new facility was officially opened, and the health center's patients now had access to care from two locations in the community.
In December 2007, Esperanza moved its main office again, relocating to a new office space at 3156 Kensington Avenue, at the intersection of Kensington & Allegheny Avenues in North Philadelphia. This location is in the heart of one of the community's busiest commercial and residential districts, providing convenient access to the health center's patients.
As the health center enters its third decade in 2010, Esperanza - "hope" in Spanish - continues to mean hope to those who speak the language of the barrio, and it means care and concern to those who come here for their health and for the health of their families.