Home Visit Program
Serving in the desert barrios where the poorest of the poorstruggle to live and die with dignity.
In addition to offering medical services at the COS, the mission staff operates a much-needed Home Visit Program which brings medical care and social services to the poorest and sickest in Chimbote who are unable to come to the Center.
Started by Sr. Lillian Bockheim several decades ago, the program takes medical care and social services directly to the barrios in Chimbote where the poverty is most dire and the housing conditions most deplorable. On average, this team of professionals goes out three times a week and visits 150 families per month. Provided services include diagnostics, treatment, medications, counseling, first aid supplies, bedding, mattresses, hygiene products, and, on occasion, medical equipment, such as wheelchairs. These individuals truly act as the loving face of Christ, offering empathy, compassion, encouragement, and prayers to people who face a daily struggle simply to survive.
Fr. Joseph Freedy of the Diocese of Pittsburgh describes what it is like to witness a home visit:
“I was so impressed with the nurses. They were completely selfless in their jobs. They had a sincere interest in every person we visited and went over and above what they needed to do to fulfill their duties. They did it with gentleness, patience and, when needed, firmness. The poverty I saw was overwhelming, both in its magnitude – it spanned nearly every part of the city – and in its intensity. We visited people with cancer, tuberculosis, people who have not been out of bed for fifteen years. We visited people in terrible pain, old men who shivered because they had no blankets to keep them warm … What struck me most about these home visits was the care the nurses took in looking after the people, and the joy and faith of the people despite their condition. It only helped to prove to me that true peace and joy reside in the depths of the heart.”
The home visit team is also instrumental in supporting the Center’s Dignified Housing Program, which depends on these professionals and local religious personnel to identify the most vulnerable families in extreme poverty who may qualify for one of the free basic homes that are now being built through contributions from our donors.
