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The SPJ Medical Clinic

Thousands receive aid | Families await medical assistance. (Photos/Morgan Smith)

JANE FULLER TRANSFORMS JUÁREZ

Morgan Smith

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They’re coming from every direction, little families with mothers leading the way. It’s only 8:30 AM on this bright Saturday morning but this is the day for the medical clinic organized by the non-profit, Siguiendo los Pasos de Jesus (SPJ) and led by its dynamic president, Jane Fuller.

We’re at the west edge of Juárez, Mexico, an area of dirt streets, shacks made of chunks of plywood and cardboard, and extreme poverty. These women know that the only medical care available for their families is at this SPJ clinic featuring doctors, nurses and medical students from El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico. At the clinic there are nine volunteers. One of them is Dr. José Andrade, a specialist in internal medicine who works for Wexford Health and is the Medical Director at the Southern New Mexico Correctional facility in Las Cruces. He says that he started going to the clinic eighteen months ago “after my son introduced me to this opportunity to serve and I plan to continue going as long as GOD gives me the blessing to continue.”

His son, also named José Andrade is a third year medical student, inspired by his father to practice medicine.

The SPJ Medical Clinic

Andrea De Santiago is a student at the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in Las Cruces and expects to graduate in 2026. This was her second clinic experience. She says, “I became interested because I am from El Paso, Texas and have family in Juárez, Mexico. Growing up, I witnessed our medical and developmental necessities along the border region and my goal is to give back to my community with what my education provides.”

Miranda Brake, also a student at Burrell, says that, “I decided to participate because I am interested in border health and getting a better understanding of the needs of these communities.”

Dr. Ana Meza states that, “Jane’s work is invaluable for the many families we see; it’s the hope of a dignified home and a better future for their families.” Her son, Andres, a pre-med student adds that “the fulfillment I can bring tp the people I serve is the heart of medicine.”

Fuller built the clinic in 2010; before that they would hold clinics in a variety of locations. She then developed a contract with the Texas Tech University Health Science Center and later an agreement with Burrell in Las Cruces.

The issue is not just the monthly clinic visit but often follow-up care like surgery for which Fuller raises additional funds.

SPJ is more than a monthly medical clinic; Fuller’s goal is to build a community in this area of about 4,000 families.

This includes.

LEADERSHIP | Jane Fuller, director of Following in Jesus’ Footsteps (SPJ).

Building homes.

Since 2006, SPJ has built over 600 homes. Painted green or yellow they are easy to spot. Unlike several other home building organizations – Missions Ministries from Colorado or St. Bede’s Episcopal Church from Santa Fe – Fuller uses all local labor rather than a mix of volunteers. One example is an employee named Teo who has never had any education and can’t even write his name but has had employment with SPJ for over ten years.

When my first wife died in 2016, friends donated funds to SPJ to build a house in her memory for a woman named Elvira Romero and her grandchildren. Elvira had been living in one of those plywood-cardboard shacks and said to me, “Do you know what happens when it shows? When we wake up in the morning, our beds are covered with snow that has blown through the cracks in the walls.”

The goal for the coming year is to build a house every two to two and a half weeks at a cost of about $10,000 each. Much depends on how much money can be raised at the annual dinner on November 8 which we always plan to attend.

PADRE E HIJO| Médicos José Andrade y José Andrade Jr.

The SPJ Medical Clinic

SPJ now has a mercado which is part of Fuller’s goal of building a real community. It has:

Four restaurants which run regularly.

A women’s boutique.

A men’s clothing store. (We always try to bring used clothing when we visit.)

A nail salon and barber shop.

A paper goods store.

An internet café.

In addition, SPJ has built two community parks, one of which has a soccer field and a basketball court.

SPJ also has workers who can repair used furniture that has been donated and, therefore, furnish the new houses when the families move in.

These programs are due to the extraordinary drive and commitment of Jane Fuller. She personifies a scattered core of similar leaders in this area like Grecia Herrera at the Respettrans migrant shelter in the center of Juárez, José Antonio Galván who has managed the nearby Vision in Action asylum for over thirty years, or Lorena Solares, the dedicated teacher at the school for Tarahumara kids.

This is an area of non-existent government services. I’ve been driving through this barrio for about fifteen years and only once have I seen a trio of visiting nurses. Hopefully, this will change under the leadership of Mexico’s relatively new President, Claudia Sheinbaum who is an advocate for women’s issues like health. But when will that happen? In the interim, it is the Jane Fullers and her volunteers who will bring care and dignity to the border.

Morgan Smith has been writing about border issue for almost fifteen years and can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.