A note of gratitude and hope as we close out 2025

Dear friends of Manos Juntas,

As we close out the year, I wanted to reach out with a simple message: thank you.

This has been a tough year in healthcare and public health. Many of us have felt it in real time, in the headlines, in the clinic, and in our own lives. The needs keep rising. The systems we rely on feel strained. And for a lot of people, the future feels more uncertain than it should.

I do not want to gloss over that. Uncertainty is real. So is burnout. So is the quiet worry of wondering whether we will have what we need to keep showing up for patients the way they deserve.

And yet, when I think about Manos Juntas, what I feel most is hope.

Hope looks like a volunteer who stays late to make sure a patient understands their plan.

Hope looks like a provider who treats someone with respect, even when time is tight and the day is heavy.

Hope looks like our students learning not just medicine and systems, but dignity, humility, and care.

Hope looks like a patient walking out of the clinic feeling seen, not judged, and not alone.

In a world that can feel increasingly transactional, this clinic remains one of the most human places I know.

This is also the end of my first term as President. I stepped into this role after the passing of Dr. Shook, when I was serving as Vice President. I am still humbled by the trust the Board placed in me during that transition, and I carry Dr. Shook’s legacy with me in the decisions we make and the way we show up for our community.

I am proud of what we have kept going together. I am proud that we have protected our values in moments when it would have been easier to compromise. I am proud that we have continued to insist, in practice, on what we have always said out loud: health care is a right, not a privilege.

As we head into the new year, I cannot promise that things will be easier. But I can promise this: we will keep showing up. We will keep making careful decisions with the resources we have. We will keep building partnerships that strengthen care. And we will keep doing what Manos Juntas does best, meeting people where they are with skilled, compassionate care.

If you volunteered this year, thank you for giving your time and your talent.

If you donated, thank you for helping keep our doors open.

If you referred a patient, shared our work, or simply believed in us when things felt uncertain, thank you.

You are part of this clinic’s story, and you are part of what makes it possible for our patients to feel hope, too.

Wishing you and your loved ones a restful end of year, and a start to the next one that brings steadiness, health, and moments of real peace.

With gratitude,

Jackson Higginbottom, MPH (he/him)

Director & Board President