3132 Edition
March 5~11, 2012
Church Ministry News

Reported by Lin Yi-ying

Written by Lydia Ma

Grace Home Church (known as Grace Home Center in Chinese), a Christian social service organization with various branches across Taiwan that cares for homeless and poor people, recently announced that it would be distributing “Grace Home Cards” to homeless people and credit card debtors who don’t have national health insurance cards because they can’t afford to pay the monthly premium to the Bureau of National Health Insurance. This card will be accepted in 106 clinics across Taiwan, enabling homeless people to seek medical attention and obtain much needed medicine free of charge. This program is an unique system that has no connection with the Bureau of National Health Insurance.

Grace Home Center’s CEO Lee Cheng-lung announced that there are currently 18 Grace Home Centers across Taiwan and people who are Grace Home cardholders only need to renew their cards every month to obtain the medical care they need free of charge. As for patients whose conditions require treatment or surgery at a large hospital, these clinics have now partnered with PCT-affiliated hospitals so that people can also receive the help they need at those institutions free of charge.

Seeing an increasing number of homeless people and credit card debtors unable to seek medical attention because they are unable to pay their monthly National Health Insurance, Grace Home Center decided to open one “Grace Home Clinic” in 2010. A number of doctors and pharmacists volunteered to help out free of charge while some pharmaceutical companies gave free prescription drugs.

Unfortunately, running such a clinic was so costly that the center was forced to shut down the clinic in less than 6 months. But when the news came to the attention of Lee Chih-hsien, CEO of one of the pharmaceutical companies that had partnered with the free clinic, he put his marketing and networking skills to use by inviting clinics across Taiwan to help out by providing free services to needy people. Miraculously, many clinics accepted his invitation and “Grace Home Free Clinic Alliance” was quickly established.

Grace Home Center CEO Lee Cheng-lung told Taiwan Church News that the center now urgently needs more clinics to volunteer and join this alliance. He added that the center currently mails out at least 20 Grace Home cards with instruction booklets every month to local churches that request them so that churches can distribute them to those in need and use this opportunity to share the gospel with them and invite them to church.