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Ministry
Overview
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In 1978, over
30 years ago and with lot of community support, His Branches opened
on Arnett Boulevard in the heart of the City of Rochester, NY, as part of a progressive vision, dream, and prayer. The vision was of people from all walks of life being helped by gifted Christian doctors and nurses working with others who were living out their faith caring for those in need. The dream included people living in communities where children could grow up in healthy families, play in safe neighborhoods, worship in vibrant churches, and learn in enriching schools. Together with Jesus, our prayer was and has always been “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!” |
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Starting with just Dr. Morehouse and
Rita Donnelly as his full-time, multifunction staff support
person, Grace (and now Joy Family Medicine) has grown to
four practitioners, supported by 6 full-time equivalent administrative staff,
two full-time nurses, and a number of volunteers.
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In addition to the medical and counseling services being
offered, His Branches also has collaborative relationships with several other institutions. These
collaborative partners are part of a broader vision for our community in which we desire to go beyond individual medical needs to address broader community needs.
Our Board of Directors is made up of 7 members, 2 African American and
5 Anglo American, 7 men and 1 woman. The members are local community business and not-for-profit professionals, some of who have been serving His Branches Inc. for many years. Our Board is already in an active internal growth process
to further diversify the skills and composition of the Board with plans to expand to 12 members.
As the founder of this ministry, Dr. William Morehouse has maintained and promoted a progressive vision for healthy and whole communities. His faithful service has been felt throughout the City of Rochester and beyond. There are few places you can go in Rochester that do not know about Dr. Morehouse. While many doctors have come and gone during his tenure, Dr. Morehouse and his family have lived in the same neighborhood as His Branches for
over 30 years. He has been recognized for numerous achievements, including being honored
in 2002 with the "Leo Holmsten Human Life Award" for his pro-life work in the
community and in 2005 with the "Health Care Achievement Award" by the
Rochester Business Journal. He has also served for years as the Faculty Advisor for the
Christian medical students at the University of
Rochester and was instrumental in starting and maintaining an active parallel to the Christian Medical and Dental Association
(CMDA) in the Rochester area called the
Greater Rochester Medical Center Christian Fellowship (GRMCCF).
Through these affiliations we have begun to partner with our regional counterparts in the Buffalo area in growing relationship with Drs. Myron Glick, David Holmes, and their associates, and believe that our collaboration has the potential to make a significant impact on the availability of faith-based health care in Western New York. It has long been a partially fulfilled dream of Dr. Morehouse’s to export his vision for care to other areas and see his work outlive his service locally. This grant will support a major step for His Branches Inc. in cultivating that process and beginning to the lay the foundations for his transition.
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