Graduating senior prepares for humanitarian missions
Released: May 15, 2008
Alissa Cleary with six-year-old Jamie Woods
of La Ceiba, Honduras
A passion for helping people runs deep in UW-Whitewater graduating senior Alissa Cleary’s family. Her father, James, is a specialist in oncology and palliative medicine at the University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison. Her mother, Annette, is a hospice chaplain. Together, the two have instilled in their daughter a deep desire to care for others. That desire will take Cleary to the West Coast this August to the East Los Angeles QueensCare Family Clinic to provide medical care to low-income, uninsured Hispanic patients.
This is not the first medical mission the double major in biology and Spanish has gone on. In fact, Cleary has been on two missions in the last five years to La Ceiba, Honduras – one in February 2003 and another in February 2008. Following her year stint in Los Angeles she will again return to Honduras, this time to Trujillo, to fulfill a two-and-a-half year obligation with the Farm of the Child, a Christian orphanage that provides educational, medical and spiritual services to needy children.
"My goal is to be a doctor who works with the underprivileged, which is why I got involved in the medical missions," she said. Besides the international missions, Cleary has also worked as a Spanish-language translator at the Rock River Free Clinic in Jefferson, Wis., and at University Health and Counseling Services at UW-Whitewater.
At the QueensCare Family Clinic, Cleary will work as a medical assistant and greeter. Her duties will include exam room and patient preparation, patient education, chart documentation, taking vital signs and helping with patient care as needed. Her proficiency in Spanish will be put to good use, as 99 percent of the clinic’s patients are Hispanic.
"The opportunity to be exposed to the Hispanic world and the chance to speak Spanish without leaving the country are two things I am looking forward to," she said. "The fact that I will be able to do this all while helping people makes it that much more exciting."
Beginning in August, Cleary will live in Los Angeles with two to eight other volunteers. Her living costs will be covered by QueensCare and she will receive medical insurance, transportation to and from work and a weekly stipend of around $20, "which is the only form of payment we receive."
She said that her parents have been very supportive of her decision to work at the clinic in Los Angeles as well as her future commitment to Farm of the Child. "They are very proud of my decision and I know they will continue to support me in whatever I do."
Cleary’s commitment with Farm of the Child will begin August 2009. She is currently seeking donations to raise the $11,000 required to fund her time at the Farm, which includes preparation costs, travel expenses, language school, medical insurance and a living stipend. To make a tax deductible, charitable donation to Cleary and Farm of the Child, contact Cleary at clearyac28@uww.edu or www.farmofthechild.org.
- Melissa DiMotto,dimottom@uww.edu
