Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital will host the first annual “Run for Mercy 5K/1K” a family-friendly Peachtree Qualifier event, at 8 a.m., June 12. The race benefits Mercy Care, a network of 15 clinics providing health care services to those living in homelessness and poverty. Proceeds will also be used for the purchase of medical equipment for the new Mercy Care Chamblee clinic.

The “Run for Mercy 5K/1K” will kickoff in the Perimeter Place Shopping Center, 100 Perimeter Center Place. “Since our founding, Emory Saint Joseph’s has been focused on providing care to those less fortunate, which is the mission of our founders, the Sisters of Mercy,” says Heather Dexter, CEO of Emory Saint Joseph’s. Mercy Care is an extension of the Sisters and our hospital, and the ‘Run for Mercy’ is a great way to create awareness and provide support to such a valuable organization serving our community.”

Emory Saint Joseph’s is Atlanta’s oldest hospital and has a wonderful heritage of providing compassionate, clinically excellent health care. When the hospital relocated from Courtland Street to Peachtree Dunwoody Road in 1978, teams of nurses, doctors, Sisters and volunteers filled tackle boxes with medical supplies and medicines and headed back downtown to provide health care on the streets. This band of good Samaritans served local residents and homeless shelters, helping to create Mercy Care.

“Mercy Care’s approach is based on collaboration, purpose, respect and hope with the goal of transforming the underserved and homeless population of Atlanta,” says Tom Andrews, president of Mercy Care.

To register for the “Run for Mercy 5K/1K,” visit: http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/runformercy5k/