If community clinics like the Family Health Center of San Diego in Logan Heights didn’t exist, Jose Guzman said that most likely he would have to take his three young daughters to receive health care in Tijuana.

    Since he doesn’t have health insurance and he can’t afford to pay a private insurance provided by his employer, Guzman said that the low-cost health services offered at the Logan clinic are a blessing.

    “This is truly a great help,” said Guzman, who works in maintenance. “If they didn’t offer a program for low-income families, I wouldn’t be able to pay for private health insurance.”

    He and his wife, Karla Marquez, have come here to receive health care at the Family Health Center of San Diego in Logan Heights for more than a decade. Their oldest daughter has seen the same pediatrician since she was born.

    “The truth is that we are very happy with the service they provide us,” said Marquez, who is a stay-at-home mother. “Also, we don’t go into debt to see a doctor.”

    The Family Health Center of San Diego offers health care to thousands of families in similar situations to the Guzmans: Those that don’t have health insurance, that are low-income, and that come from Latino homes.

    That’s exactly what Mrs. Laura Rodriguez wanted to accomplished when 40 years ago she was one of the founders of this community clinic in the heart of Barrio Logan.

    Rodriguez, who passed away in 1994, had the vision that the community of Mexican origin in the area could have access to free or low-cost health care, because at that time that type of service wasn’t readily available for these families.

    Today, the small clinic has developed into a full-service health center and has become a system of community clinics known as the Family Health Center of San Diego, which has a dozen health centers throughout the county.

    “Definitively the dream that Mrs. Rodriguez had 40 years ago has become a reality and has even gone beyond that to become something huge,” said Janet Adamian, Logan Heights clinic director. “If she was here, she would be so proud of everything that has been accomplished thanks to her effort.”

    On Friday, July 16, the health center will celebrate 40 years with a tamalada (tamale feast) where 15 Mexican restaurants will participate. Also, there will be a tamale-making contest to see who makes the best tamales on the spot, which will include the participation of elected officials, activists, and local community members.

    Tamales have an important symbolism for these health centers, because when the clinic was founded in Barrio Logan, Rodriguez and other women in the barrio would make  and sale tamales to raise funds. Since then, the Spirit of the Barrio tamale lunches have been done five times a year.

    This year, 1,000 are expected to participate in the celebration, according to spokesperson Jennette Lawrence.

    Almost a year ago, the health center celebrated the end of an expansion and renovation project in its facilities, representing an increase of 23,000 square feet of space.

    The renovated facilities have a capacity to assist 10,000 patients each year, which equals to 40,000 patient visits more each year, for a total of more than 200,000 visits.

    “This represents a triumph for the community of Barrio Logan,” Lawrence said. “This center is part of this area. People know it and it is very important in their daily life.”

    Forty years after Rodriguez, who is considered the Matriarch of Barrio Logan, decided to do something for her community and bring it health care, Family Center of San Diego has become an icon in the county.

    “All of our mission is based in serving our community,” Adamian said. “That has never changed.”

    To learn more about the 40th year anniversary of the Family Health Center of San Diego, call 619.515.2300 or visit www.fhcsd.org.