Category: Story of the Month

Two Doctors, One Family

When we speak about Young & Healthy, we often talk about serving two constituents:  our client families AND our volunteers. Sometimes serving both groups takes interesting and intersecting turns. Our care for children and families is paramount, but we could not offer these services without the time and dedication of our valued community and professional volunteers.

It is not uncommon for teenagers (or their moms) to reach out to Young & Healthy when they need to complete volunteer service hours. Years ago, that was the case when we learned of a young PUSD student who wanted to volunteer and was also interested in studying pharmacology. Our volunteer coordinator set up an internship for this student with one of our Young & Healthy pharmacists. Fast forward, after several years of advanced studies, and young Axxel is now a Doctor of Pharmacology!  And, YES, he has become a Young & Healthy volunteer!

Siblings often have a healthy competition with each other, and this seems to be true for Axxel and his brother, Jose Antonio. Jose Antonio is now a pediatrician in San Antonio, doing a fellowship in Pulmonology. Jose Antonio has already committed to becoming a Young & Healthy volunteer doctor when he returns to his hometown of Pasadena next year. That’s TWO Dr. Palomares’ and one very dedicated family!  We could not be more proud to welcome them as part of the Young & Healthy team.

Axxel

Jose Antonio

When Expertise Can Change a Life

Maggie, a forty-year-old mom, came to Young & Healthy seeking help with insurance for herself and her son, Jason. Maggie had learned the hard way how the lack of health insurance can impact her family. Earlier in the year, Maggie needed emergency surgery and without the benefit of insurance, she owed the hospital over $85,000.  Wow!  Most of us don’t have that kind of emergency cash.

Luckily, Maggie came to Young & Healthy for some help. Our staff happens to be aware of a little-known fact about Medi-Cal. A person can apply retroactively for Medi-Cal and it will cover prior medical services rendered during the previous 12 months. Maggie walked out of our office with health insurance for both herself and her son, as well as freedom from an $85,000 debt. Young & Healthy could practically hear her sigh of relief for blocks away.

Tax Relief Can Be a HUGE Relief

Jasmine has two darling kids, Josephina and Geraldo. Her kids are her most precious assets, but unfortunately those assets don’t pay the back rent or fix the family car. Most of the free tax preparation sites in our area were completely full when Jasmine tried to take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit that she learned she was probably due. She had been on a waiting list for more than two months to get an appointment for assistance in filing her taxes. Then she heard that Young & Healthy was a new provider of tax preparation services and called right away. Our staff was able to get her an appointment within the week and before she knew it, a much-needed tax refund was on the way.

Young & Healthy understands that there is a direct connection between income and health. Improving someone’s ability to obtain a tax refund that is rightfully theirs can change their family’s well-being, beyond paying the rent and getting their car fixed. We are grateful to be a part of a tax preparation program that can help promote economic health and protect physical and emotional health too.

Pandemic Inequities Illustrated

Covid-19 has taught us more lessons than we can count, not the least of which is how unevenly the pandemic has affected our community. Many families we serve do not have jobs that can be done from home. During the pandemic, these families found themselves in positions of constant exposure to the virus. In addition, many of our clients lost their jobs completely. Such was the case for Susanna, who lost her job early in the pandemic, but was at least able to be at home with her two girls when the stay-at-home orders were enacted.

Susanna’s daughters were regularly glued to the chrome books provided by their school. One of her girls, Charlotte, was really struggling because her glasses had broken and Medi-Cal would not replace them until June 2021, some eight months later. You can probably imagine Susanna’s sleepless nights, having no job and not enough money for rent, clothes, food and certainly not glasses.

When Young & Healthy learned of this family’s situation, we were able to arrange for school lunches and donations of clothing for the family and a precious pair of glasses for Charlotte. Hopefully, years from now, when that family recalls the awful times of the pandemic, they will also remember that there were people who cared about them and their unbelievable burdens. Young & Healthy cannot “fix” everything, but we can make our best effort to lighten the burden of poverty in any way that we can.

More Than a One-Stop Shop

Forty-year-old, Isabella heard that Young & Healthy was now helping people with their taxes.  She was desperate and wanted an immediate appointment. She knew she was likely eligible for a tax refund and she really needed that money.

Isabella had just been to the dentist and was horrified to discover her need for some dental work that would far exceed what her insurance would cover. She needed that tax return!

The Young & Healthy team set Isabela up with a tax appointment for the following week and suggested she also meet with our insurance advocate. Perhaps he could help her review the estimated costs from her dentist.

When he looked at the estimate, which was nearly $5,000, he suspected something was not right. Isabela was told that her dental insurance wouldn’t cover the work. The dental office had not actually inquired about the services with Isabella’s insurance company. Our advocate helped her change to a dentist who would submit the eventual claim to her insurance company, and sure enough, the dental work WAS, indeed, a covered service!

This is the Young & Healthy way—come in for one need and leave with many solutions. Isabella will get her tax refund and her needed dental care.