Joyce Overton Leads Efforts to Change Lives of Refugees to America
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Serving the ChurchCriterion in Central and Souther n Indiana Since 1960 CriterionOnline.com July 13, 2007 Vol. XLVII, No. 39 75¢ Groups working to fight racial, ethnic disparities in health care WASHINGTON (CNS)—Dr. Anna Maria Izquierdo-Porrera knows firsthand that medical offices Joyce Overton leads must be places on which patients can efforts to change rely to receive quality health care when they need it and places to lives of refugees which they will want to return. to America As medical direc- tor of the Spanish By John Shaughnessy Catholic Center of Catholic Community Services in Years had passed since they first met, but Washington, she tries to cultivate personal Joyce Overton immediately recognized the relationships with those in her care, such as man walking down the hall toward her. the fifty-something Cuban-born homeless After all, it’s hard to forget someone who man who became “part of the family” at the seemed to hate you with a passion when center until his recent death in hospice care you first met. after fighting both heart disease and lung Yet that was the situation in the 1980s cancer. when a then-just-arrived refugee from That man might have been homeless, Ethiopia came to see Overton, the longtime but he did have a “medical home,” director of the archdiocesan Refugee according to the definition offered by the Resettlement Program. Commonwealth Fund in its new study on The man had his own idea for his version how racial and ethnic disparities in health of the American dream, a dream that come to the United States. She joined the care could be reduced or eliminated if more included going archdiocese’s refugee program in 1978— minority patients had a medical home. Refugee advocate to school right three years after the program began in “This survey shows that if you can embraces people away. Yet response to South Vietnamese refugees provide both insurance and access to a true seeking help, page 9. Overton told arriving in America following the end of medical home, racial and ethnic differences him it would the Vietnam War in 1975. in getting needed medical care are often be better for him and his family if he got a Since then, the archdiocese has helped eliminated,” said Dr. Anne Beal, senior pro- job. The man stormed away, furious. about 15,000 refugees from around the gram officer at the Commonwealth Fund Last summer, that same man came back globe, people who have fled their home- and lead co-author of the study, during a to see Overton, walking down the hall lands because of war, persecution, civil Photos by John Shaughnessy June 27 news conference in Washington. toward her. conflict or a major natural disaster. The As the longtime director of the refugee According to the report on the study, “He came up and asked, ‘Do you refugees have come from Africa, Asia and program for the archdiocese, Joyce Overton and patients have a medical home if they meet remember me?’ ” she recalls. “He said, Europe, including the countries of her staff have helped refugees from around the four criteria: have a regular provider or ‘You told me I had to go to work instead of Cambodia, Laos, Poland, Russia, Cuba, world adjust to their new lives in the United States. place of care; report no difficulty contacting school to help my family. I didn’t want to Haiti, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan. a provider by phone; report no difficulty do it, but I did it. I was so mad at you. But Hundreds of refugees have been arriving families. They also assist with job place- getting advice or medical care on weekends now I want to thank you.’ ” in Indianapolis this spring and summer ment, medical checks, cultural orientation or evenings; and find office visits well- Overton smiles and says, “He eventually from Myanmar, also known as Burma, and government benefits. organized and efficiently run. did go back to school. He’s now a chemist fleeing the political suppression of the mili- And when that’s not enough, Overton Only 15 percent of Hispanics reported at Lilly.” tary regime in that Southeast Asian country. often leads the way in providing extra having a medical home, compared to As Overton shares that story, there’s a “Helping refugees is important to the assistance. 28 percent of whites, 34 percent of African- framed poster on a wall behind her, a poster archdiocese,” Overton says. “It goes back “She’s very tenacious. She’ll go the Americans and 26 percent of Asian- about “Passion” that states, “There are to ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’ extra mile,” says Marguerite Keys, an Americans. Overall, about one in four many things in life that will catch your eye, The refugee program has always been a assistant in the program. “She’s not easily U.S. adults met the criteria for having a but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue priority of the Catholic bishops.” rattled. She’s witnessed many clients who medical home. those.” The seven staff members of the program seem to have insurmountable problems But when they did have a medical home, For the past 30 years, Overton has meet refugees at the airport, help enroll adjusting to life here and she’s helped nearly three-quarters of adults—regardless pursued her passion of trying to make a children in schools, and provide clothing, them reach self-sufficiency. She feels a of race—reported they can always get the difference in the lives of refugees who have furniture and temporary housing to the See PASSION, page 9 See HEALTH CARE, page 2 Pope relaxes restrictions on use of Tridentine Mass VATICAN CITY (CNS)—In a long- extraordinary expression of the same law of found very often,” he said. awaited overture to disaffected Catholic prayer.” But the pope expressed sympathy with traditionalists, Pope “They are, in fact, two usages of the one Catholics who are attached to the Tridentine Benedict XVI relaxed Roman rite,” he said. rite and uncomfortable with the new Mass. In restrictions on the use of The pope’s directive came on July 7 in a the post-Vatican II period, he said, excessive the Tridentine Mass, the four-page apostolic letter titled “Summorum liturgical creativity often led to “deformations Latin-language liturgy Pontificum.” The new norms will take effect of the liturgy which were hard to bear.” that predates the Second on Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the “I am speaking from experience, since I, Vatican Council. Holy Cross. too, lived through that period with all its The pope said Mass An accompanying explanatory letter from hopes and confusion. And I have seen how celebrated according to the pontiff to the world’s bishops dismissed arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused the 1962 Roman Missal, fears that the decree would foment divisions deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the Pope Benedict XVI commonly known as the in the Church or be seen as a retreat from faith of the Church,” he said. Tridentine rite, should Vatican II. The pope said it is clear that, in addition be made available in every parish where The pope said the new Mass rite to Catholics from that era, young people are groups of the faithful desire it. undoubtedly would remain the Church’s also being attracted by the older form of the He said that while the new Roman predominant form of worship. Use of the liturgy. Missal, introduced in 1970, remains the old missal presupposes a certain degree of The Tridentine Mass has been allowed as ordinary way of Catholic worship, the liturgical formation and some knowledge of a liturgical exception since 1984, but 1962 missal should be considered “the the Latin language, and “neither of these is See MASS, page 8 Page 2 The Criterion Friday, July 13, 2007 success in improving the health status of Dental assistant HEALTH CARE patients with chronic conditions like Flore Aviles and continued from page 1 diabetes. “We’re above the national numbers dentist Lorenzo for Medicare and Medicaid,” she said. Haring CNS photo/Paul Altmon work on the care they need, compared with 52 percent of Another example of a medical home cited teeth of a 14-year-old those with a regular provider but no medical by the Commonwealth Fund is Washington client at the Spanish home and 38 percent of those without a Pediatric Associates, where children and Catholic Center in regular health provider. their families can receive services ranging Washington in this The margin of error for the study was plus from lactation consultations to parenting photo taken in or minus 2.9 percentage points. classes to infant/toddler yoga and massage February. The center The Spanish Catholic Center, which to immunizations and information about provides medical, provides medical, dental, immigration, legal, nutrition and early childhood education. dental, immigration, educational and social services to more than In a prenatal visit, families meet the legal, educational 40,000 people, has a clientele that is physicians and other health care providers in and social services 95 percent Hispanic and 98 percent a group setting to learn about the philosophy to more than uninsured, said Izquierdo-Porrera. of the practice, ask questions and tour the 40,000 people “Coming to the doctor is a hard thing for examination rooms. The practice also places annually. them to do” because of work and other a special emphasis on pediatric literacy, with commitments, she said, so the center tries to children between 6 months and 6 years make visits as easy as possible with evening receiving a new, age-appropriate book at and weekend hours, and by offering every well-child visit.