The Dispensary provides access to quality healthcare to6,500-7,000 vulnerable people, including Syrian refugees, every year. 50% are children, 30% women and 20% men.  In response to the current emergency, the Dispensary is providing psychological assistance to the families via telephone and online to manage the trauma and distributing medicines.

Preserving a quality of life of every person in living in precariousness is the essence of the mission of the St. Antoine’s Dispensary – Community Health Center. The Center aims to offer the best medical service available, to the large marginalized population of the region of Jdeidet-Roueissetwithout distinction of race, religion or nationality. With the generous help of philanthropists and international donors, the Center is able to offer access to healthcare for over 6,900 women, children and men every year.

The St. Antoine’s  Dispensary is located in Roueisset and is managed by the Good Shepherds Sisters. It is one of the major health service clinics in Jdeidet-Roueisset area, one of the poorest of Beirut. It offers medical services for the poor, the destitute, offering them affordable quality healthcare and social services (the consultation costs each patient $2 only). The Primary Healthcare Centre offers more than daily consultations and medicine distribution: it is a real humanitarian service for all the community. It is a gathering place where people of different backgrounds, nationalities and religions (Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqis, Egyptians, Indians, Africans, Sri Lankans, etc.) can meet and communicate, and are encouraged to be supportive of each other.

The Good Shepherd Social Center in Roueisset was created in 1999 to improve the welfare of the most vulnerable families and eradicate violence at all levels of the community. The team of the Center works tirelessly to create a non-violent beneficial environment for children to grow up in and fulfill their potential.

The project provides services in three areas:

• Education: children in Roueisset tend to drop-out of school early for many reasons: poverty, crime, negative influences and because they have been deprived of the ability to imagine a better future for themselves. The Center helps the children to stay in school and away from the streets by providing them with after-school tuition and summer classes. The program helps them to study, make them appreciate the importance of education and guide them towards a suitable job in the future. The center also values the importance of socio-cultural outings.

• Family well-being: the center offers extensive psycho-social support to the families to stop or prevent violence. Psychologists, social workers and educators work individually with the various family members to help them improve their mental health, adopt non-violent behaviors and communication within the family and improve overall well-being and living conditions. Our team also raises awareness on important topics such as child abuse, healthcare and positive parenting through group workshops. Finally, many activities focus specifically on women in order to empower them and help them gain self-confidence and self-esteem (French and English lessons, Zumba lessons, peer groups and outings).

• Peace between communities: the center organizes many activities so that children and adults form different religion or nationalities can meet, discover each other’s ‘culture and create bonds. The center promotes tolerance and understanding between the communities. Sports plays a major role as it is a great tool to get children from various communities to interact, create team spirit, play together and canalize their energy and aggression in the game. The Center offers karate and football lessons every week for the children. In addition, workshops are organized for the children to meet and discuss and debate on topics related to culture, identity, tolerance and togetherness.