SAKS of Love celebrates new location with Hope Community Medicine

The Shelby County Chamber Ambassadors, staff from Hope Community Medicine of Tenaha and many others joined SAKS of Love on Saturday, August 5 in celebrating their new location Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

The nonprofit organization is now located at 164 Wall Street in Tenaha, across from Hope Community Medicine, whom they have recently partnered with. Executive Director of SAKS of Love, Christina Leary, founded the organization in 2017, on the awareness of senior citizens needing support and love. 

Not only does the organization provide assistance to senior citizens, but to families in need as well; with household supplies, clothing, food and prayer. They also offer movie nights with food for kids.

“We need more places like this,” said Leary during Saturday’s ribbon cutting. “Who would’ve thought that a medical healthcare center would team up with SAKS of Love? This is what it’s all about. This is something that’s never been done. But today, we can say it’s being done. We’ve got good quality healthcare and we’ve got good quality human services all joined together and I give God the praise,” she said. 

Referring to her staff, Leary said, “This has been a hard journey. It’s been a long 45 days. I can’t thank this group right here enough,” she said. “We have done night after night, day after day. We work on our breaks, we’ve brought our kids up here. We didn’t think we’d be here today and I’m just so grateful,” she said. 

 

Mike Belgrade, PA-C, Chief Executive Officer of Hope Community Medicine, gave thanks to his team at Saturday’s ribbon cutting, “One day we had a meeting...we do a lot of medicine, mental health, women’s health… we’re doing all of these health projects. But there’s something that’s missing. And that is determinants,” he said.

Belgrade explained the determinants in health, that determine how healthy people are such as resources for healthy food, having a place to sleep, having clothes to wear, access to clean water and many more health and survival based determinants.

“I told my staff, ‘Look, we need to find a way to address those determinants of health - those things that are keeping people from being healthy,’” he said.

Belgrade said it was around that time when Leary called, and it all fell into place. “I told my staff, ‘I think we found the solution to our problem.’”

According to Leary, “We like to help the older people and people of all ages with clothes and food. We like to give love and support to the community. Over the past few years, the SAKS of Love program has grown. It started in the back of a car, to a living room, to a shed, to a barber shop, to an oversized storage unit and now to an entire medical clinic, thanks to Hope Community Medicine." 

The partnership with Hope Community Medicine has opened opportunity to reach the community and offer additional preventive health and mental wellness supplies, services and options.

SAKS of Love is open on the 2, 3 and 4th Saturdays of the month. On the 2nd Saturday, they serve the homeless. SAKS of Love serve Shelby, Angelina, Panola and Nacogdoches Counties. 

After their Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, SAKS of Love hosted a Back to School Giveaway from 9 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. where families were able to receive backpacks, School supplies and even back to school haircuts.