Mercy Health Clinic is one of our partners in the North Bethesda Rotary Community Health Challenge, our club fundraiser that runs through September. On September 24, we’ll hear from Mark Foraker, the Executive Director of the clinic. The mission of Mercy Health Clinic (Mercy) is to provide high quality medical care, health education and pharmaceuticals to medically underserved, low -income residents of Montgomery County, Maryland. All onsite services are offered free of charge.

Founded in October 2000 by members of the social concerns committee at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac, Maryland, Mercy started as an all volunteer clinic occupying a few rooms in the Montgomery Up-County Regional Services Center in Germantown, Maryland. The clinic quickly grew in the number of patients served and the number of volunteer physicians and nurses recruited to serve them. Today Mercy has a small paid staff and nearly 50 volunteer
physicians who provide primary and patient specialty care to nearly 1,800 patients annually. We are currently
providing approximately 7,200 patient appointments annually for our uninsured neighbors.

Mark is a non-profit executive with extensive management and fundraising experience in Montgomery County,
MD including St. Luke’s House (now Cornerstone Montgomery) and Manna Food Center. He has a Master’s
Degree in Nonprofit Management and a PMP certification in project management. Mr. Foraker became
Executive Director of Mercy in June, 2015 and has prioritized establishing partnerships with other social service organizations, implementing operational sustainability.