“I work hard to ensure that my neighbors have the health care they need.”

Dear Friend,

I’m Aftab Ali, a community health care worker at Ibn Sina Clinic, one of Project HOPE’s partners on the ground in Houston. My goal is to ensure that people in our community have accurate health information about COVID-19 — and then get vaccinated.

My colleagues and I do our work to better humanity and care for our neighbors. These past few years, it’s sometimes felt like our shared trust and faith in humanity was lost. But then I remember the support and compassion of the Project HOPE community. Through your generosity, you remind me that there are people in this world who care.

Ibn Sina Clinic was able to hire me and two other people thanks to funding from Project HOPE. Our small team was able to expand our COVID-19 vaccination program into Houston’s refugee and migrant communities and help them protect their health. It’s been so gratifying to earn people’s trust and to know they have the care they need.

Can you put your generosity into lifesaving action today by making gift? Project HOPE’s $600,000 Time for HOPE Matching Gift Challenge is active now, so you can double your impact and help protect the health of more people.

Vicente, 11, was one of the people I helped vaccinate. He and his mom Mariel fled violence in Venezuela, making an arduous 15-day journey to reach the U.S. safely. Vicente contracted COVID-19 while staying at a shelter on the border, where he was quarantined with a high fever for 11 days.

Mariel didn’t fully trust the vaccine back in Venezuela — but when she brought Vicente to Ibn Sina for his first dose, I provided her with the information she needed to understand that the vaccine is safe and effective. “I’m more comfortable now,” Mariel told me. “I can send him [Vincente] to school and know he is protected.”

I’ve seen how hard doctors and health care professionals work. We’re here because we want to help, but the pressure of the work can weigh on us. I make sure to protect my mental health — and I appreciate the trainings and support Project HOPE has provided global health care workers to cope with burnout and other mental health challenges.

Every day I say to myself, “I tried. I did my best. And I’m gonna try again tomorrow. And then try again.” Knowing that there are kind and generous people like you out there, giving what you can, from your heart, motivates me to keep trying, to keep helping. Thank you!

Friend, please help Project HOPE and local partners like me continue our vital work. Make your gift today, which will be instantly doubled. I know that your generosity will make a lifesaving difference!