The Galveston County Daily News

Dr. Fred M. “Fritz” Zaunbrecher’s name means “fence-breaker” in German, and in many ways, the name defines his work.

Alongside a team of volunteers, the Texas City physician operates a free clinic for Galveston’s homeless each week, breaking the barriers to quality medical care for that fragile population.

“For a doctor, the greatest blessing to this is being able to take care of people in need without any of the medical bureaucracy that prevails today,” Zaunbrecher said.

The ministry co-founded by Zaunbrecher is called the Luke Society, named after the physician who wrote a gospel focused on Jesus’ compassion. The Luke Society provides an outdoor clinic with as many as 14 volunteers working at the First Presbyterian Church parking lot early Saturday mornings. A street outreach ministry nearby serves a free breakfast.

It works like a house call for the homeless.

“The citizens of Galveston are very lucky to have a volunteer like Dr. Zaunbrecher who gives freely of his time on the early Saturday mornings to meet the needs of the patients,” wrote Linda Venzke, a nurse who has worked with the Luke Society for more than 20 years.

For his efforts on behalf of the homeless, Zaunbrecher has been chosen by The Galveston County Daily News as a 2009 Unsung Hero. He and other Unsung Heroes were honored with a plaque at a recent reception.

The Luke Society grew out of a Baptist Student ministry medical mission to a Mexican border town. Zaunbrecher and his wife, Michele, saw the need for a consistent clinic project and helped found the Luke Society to coordinate it in 1980. In 1995, the couple saw the need to help the homeless in Galveston and moved the free clinic operation to the island.

Zaunbrecher’s interest in medicine traces back to his roots in Louisiana, where his grandfather, Dr. Mike Clark, was “a horse and buggy doctor in a tiny town,” Zaunbrecher said. “He was kind of my role model when I was thinking about going into medicine.”

The Zaunbrechers came to Galveston for a fellowship at UTMB after medical school and decided to make their home in the county, now residing in League City. Zaunbrecher is an internist at Family Healthcare Center in Texas City.

But on Saturdays, Zaunbrecher heads for Galveston, to work with a dedicated team at the outdoor clinic.

“When we first started, we didn’t have any idea that there would be so many volunteers willing to do this sort of thing,” he said. “We know now that there are a lot of people, both in the medical profession and outside it, who have a heart for helping the poor and who are willing to sacrifice their time and comfort.”

The Bible verse he pulls out when he thinks on the ministry is Ephesians 2:10 — “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

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Details To Note

To donate to the Luke Society, write to 518 White Oak Pointe, League City, Texas, 77573.

For information on the breakfast/street outreach for the homeless located next to the free clinic, contact the Island Church, www.islandchurchgalveston.com.