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Photo by Ana Cabreira
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When Grace Beltran was five years old, her family emigrated from Ecuador to Chappaqua. “Being new to the country and having no private insurance, Open Door was the answer to all our healthcare needs,” she says. Fast-forward 20-plus years, and Beltran is paying it forward as Open Door’s marketing manager, promoting Open Door Family Medical Centers throughout the county, and advocating for family medical centers across the United States.
The personal connection to the cause has helped Beltran excel at her job. “She’s lived the immigrant experience,” says Open Door President and CEO Lindsay Farrell. “She’s bilingual. She understands the plight of the people we serve. She also presents so beautifully, she writes so well, and she is extremely competent. Her sister, Andrea, worked for us, and is also so capable, so when I met Grace, it was a dream come true. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s another one!’”
Beltran started at Open Door as an intern after graduating from Manhattanville College at age 21 with degrees in finance and marketing. Four months later, she was hired as a full-time outreach coordinator. Since her promotion to marketing manager, she uses her business acumen to market Open Door to new patients, retain current ones, oversee the organization’s brand-new We Can! Wellness Program (where patients take fitness classes including Zumba, yoga, and circuit training), and, recently, to speak in Washington, DC, about the need for community health centers. From 2010 to 2011, the number of new clients increased 7.5 percent. Open Door currently serves 43,000 people at its four sites in Ossining, Port Chester, Mount Kisco, and Sleepy Hollow.
Beltran is thrilled that the work she does is able to help some of Westchester’s most vulnerable residents. “I can use my business background and education to make a difference in the lives of the uninsured, the underinsured, and those lacking access to health care,” she says. “I’m not a doctor or direct provider of care to patients, but I know that my work has a significant impact on the care that families receive.”
—DS