The facilities, photos of which can be seen at hopealiveclinic.org, operate year-round and are staffed by 22 local medical professionals, augmented by regular planeloads of volunteers from the United States.
All of this was in place before an earthquake devastated Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, on Jan. 12, 2010.
Fortunately, no staff members were injured, the facilities suffered minimal damage, and all five clinics started to see patients again after only a few days.
"Since then, we've stepped everything up," Leslee, 55, says, noting that the ministry has begun to build water-purification systems and provide food and other assistance to local orphanages.
Last year, more than 14,000 patients were treated at the clinics, including the main facility in Mariani, west of Port-au-Prince. Others are in more remote parts of the country.
As I chat with the Jacobses, it strikes me that the term evangelical Christian has become so politically loaded that some dismiss the good work of grassroots believers.
Frank, a Pittsburgh native, is a salesman for a chemical company; Leslee, who grew up in Marlton, recently left her receptionist job to spend three months in Haiti, beginning Monday.
The couple, who have three grown children and one grandchild, don't draw salaries for their Hope Alive work. The nonprofit has an annual budget of about $100,000, virtually all from private donations.
The Jacobses' Haitian journey began with church-sponsored trips in the late 1980s, "helping people and spreading the Gospel. It was amazing," Frank says.
"The kids break your heart," he adds. "They're hungry. There are a lot of orphans . . . and some make their shoes out of plastic soda bottles."
The Jacobses have been to Haiti dozens of times, usually as leaders of groups of U.S. volunteers.
