Category: Story of the Month

A Coordinated Effort

Young & Healthy is fortunate to have wonderful community partners who help us support families when they need it most.

Recently, we received a call from Raquel at the I Have a Dream Foundation in Pasadena. She was working with a mother who was in desperate need of a booster seat and car seat for her two young children. Unsure where to turn, Raquel reached out to Young & Healthy for assistance.

Our Care Team immediately reached out to three community partners, and within an hour, we had connected with the Pasadena Health Department’s Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Program, which was able to provide the safety seats the family needed.

Raquel was incredibly grateful, and the mother was deeply relieved to know she could safely transport her children. It was a simple request with a big impact – and a beautiful reminder of what can happen when caring organizations come together in a coordinated effort to help a family in need.

Choosing Care

After 11 years as a dedicated educator in the Pasadena Unified School District, Tony learned in March that, due to budget cuts, he was being let go. Along with the loss of his job came the loss of the health insurance his family depended on.

At the same time, Tony’s wife, Valerie, was courageously battling cancer and required in home care. Determined to be by her side, Tony wanted to become her full-time caregiver through In-Home Supportive Services, a program available only to those with active Medi-Cal coverage.

Tony turned to Young & Healthy for help. Our Care Team guided him and Valerie through the Medi-Cal enrollment process, securing the coverage they urgently needed and making Tony eligible to become Valerie’s paid caregiver through IHSS.

Losing his job was devastating, but losing access to healthcare during Valerie’s cancer treatment could have been catastrophic. Thanks to timely intervention, Tony was able to focus on what mattered most—caring for the woman he loves during the most difficult chapter of their lives.

Perseverance and Resilience

Alice, a woman who lost her home in the Eaton Fire, has spent the past year and a half navigating an exhausting and often discouraging process to secure assistance through the Cal Mortgage Relief Program—a state grant that pays up to one year of mortgage payments with no repayment required.

Repeated requests for additional documentation became an overwhelming obstacle, especially since many of the required records had been destroyed in the fire. Despite countless setbacks, Alice refused to give up.

Our Resource Specialist stood beside her every step of the way, helping replace documents, complete the application, navigate changing requirements, and provide the encouragement Alice needed to keep moving forward.

After 18 months of persistence, Alice was finally approved. Her story is a testament to remarkable resilience in the face of unimaginable loss—and a reminder that compassionate, hands-on support can make all the difference when families are struggling to rebuild their lives. Young & Healthy is here to help.

More than Just a Pillow

When the Thompson family rushed to evacuate during the devastating Eaton Fire, there was little time to think about what to bring. Amid the chaos and fear, nine-year-old Malcolm ran back inside and grabbed just one thing: the small pillow he received during our mindfulness class.

Later, Malcolm’s mother, Marilyn, shared the story with us. She admitted that she had always assumed the pillow was simply a craft project or a comfort item that Malcolm happened to enjoy. But in that terrifying moment, she realized it represented something much deeper.

To Malcolm, the pillow symbolized safety, calm, and the confidence that he could make it through difficult situations. It was connected to the breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and emotional regulation skills he had learned in class. While the adults around him were navigating uncertainty and fear, Malcolm instinctively reached for the object that reminded him he had the tools to regulate his emotions and feel secure.

As Marilyn recounted the experience, she became emotional. Before the program, she had not fully understood the value of mindfulness and emotional resilience training for children. Like many parents, she viewed it as beneficial but not essential. After witnessing her son rely on those lessons during one of the most traumatic moments of his young life, her perspective changed completely.

“I thought the pillow was just a pillow,” Marilyn told us. “I didn’t realize it represented strength.”

In the aftermath of the fire, the Thompson family came away with more than gratitude for a single program activity. They came away with a deeper understanding that teaching children coping skills, emotional awareness, and resilience is not supplemental — it is life-changing.

A Helping Hand

Davida is a 14-year-old high school student navigating life in foster care, already carrying more responsibility than most her age. When an unexpected lapse in her Medi-Cal coverage created a barrier to care, Davida took the initiative to seek out assistance from Young & Healthy. At the time, Davida was in urgent need of extensive dental treatment, something that might have felt overwhelming without support.

We enrolled Davida in our Spring Mobile Dental Clinic and she was able to receive the care she needed. She showed incredible resilience and commitment, coming in day after day as the USC dental students completed 28 procedures to restore her dental health. Recognizing that her care didn’t end there, we also ensured she was connected to one of our dedicated volunteer dentists for ongoing follow-up appointments.

For Davida, Young & Healthy was a place where she was seen, supported, and given the chance to smile with confidence again. Her journey is a powerful reminder of how access to compassionate care can be the helping hand someone needs.