Over the weekend of May 31 – June 2, youth painted a colorful mural to honor Clinica Martín Baró next to the entrance of HOMEY at the corner of 10th and Mission streets.

“I believe in the cause and what the mural stands for,” said Julio Rivera, one of the youth who helped paint the mural over the weekend.

Youth from various organizations including Youth Creating Change (YCC) and Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth (HOMEY), partnered with San Francisco State University, UCSF’s PRIME-US medical students, and Clínica Martín Baró to create the mural.

“Health is all about community empowerment” said Joe Luis Pantoja, mural coordinator and student at UCSF school of medicine.

The mural presents a colorful San Francisco landscape, centered around people inside Clínica Martín Baró. The individuals, who come from multi-ethnic backgrounds are shown huddled in a circle. The group is framed by the length of Martín Baró’s arm extending around them—protecting them from both public and physical health issues. Painted above the mural is a slogan that reads “La salud es un derecho.”

Clínica Martín Baró is a clinic run by medical and undergraduate students that provides free medical care, medications, and check-ups with no appointment required. They primarily serve low-income Latinos in the Mission District.

“In this clinic we help each other… A lot of our families are affected by diabetes and high blood pressure …we try to do little things to change that, we help each other,” said Natalia Garcia Peñaloza, who gives referrals, prescriptions, and health education at the clinic. “We know some of the struggles that our community goes through because we are also immigrants, we are children of immigrants and we get to learn from each other.”

As the mural developed, parents gathered around in support of the project. Mynor Sanchez, father of mural artist Kevin Sanchez, said “We’re very proud of him, and that’s why we’re here supporting him.”

The mural is located next to the entrance of HOMEY, on 1337 Mission St. at Washburn St. Clínica Martín baró is located on 3013 24th St.