About one-third of the children in the Pasadena community are in need of the kind of care that Young & Healthy provides.
Our focus is on filling this gap and helping the uninsured and underserved children and families of our community through prevention, education and enhanced healthcare services.
Access to Healthcare Services
Young & Healthy provides medical, dental and mental healthcare treatment services, which are donated by more than 350 local healthcare professionals, including medical specialists, dentists, therapists, pharmacies and laboratories. These providers are available on a rotating basis to see low-income, underserved children in their private offices free of charge.
We prepare our families to enroll in and to navigate the healthcare system. Our goal is to engage, inform and enroll Pasadena-area individuals and families who are eligible for coverage and to assist the residually uninsured with access to needed care. A team of certified insurance assistors are available at Young & Healthy to help families enroll in Medi-Cal or Covered California.
- Enrollment Assistance – We offer one-on-one assistance with clients to complete their application for Covered CA or Medi-Cal, as well as follow up with case management to ensure their acceptance into the program for which they applied.
- Navigation and Education – Our case management supports clients who have insurance but do not have access to care. This can include clients who do not know who their doctor is or do not know what services should be covered by their insurance. By screening their insurance status we can provide a client with needed education and instructions on how to resolve their issue. Medi-Cal and Covered CA operate within a bureaucratic system which can often block a client’s access to care. We provide whatever level of support a client requires in order to navigate the complicated system.
- Advocacy — Young & Healthy acts as an advocate for clients when insurance acceptance has been wrongfully denied or when clients are being denied a covered service. In these or other similar instances, Young & Healthy will work with the county office or clinic’s billing department in order to resolve whatever issue the client is experiencing.
"I am SO glad to finally be getting my healthcare squared away with your help. It was a pleasure to meet you, and an easy and very non-intimidating process. Kudos to you for your forthrightness."
Eric Bergren, an insurance applicant
"There are six of us. We had a baby last year and without free Medi-Cal, I simply don't know what we would have done. All of our children are able to keep up to date on their medical and dental needs, providing much-needed peace of mind. My husband has high blood pressure but had been denied Medi-Cal for years because he was believed to be healthy. He is now able to get the medication he needs, thus increasing his ability to provide for our family."
Kelly Newquist, regarding how Y&H’s Medi-Cal enrollment assistance helped her family
Prevention and Education Services
Young & Healthy offers the following dental programs:
First Grade Dental Education is an extensive monthly dental education program taught by volunteers for PUSD first grade students to teach them how to care for their own teeth.
Mobile Dental Clinic is an annual event that Young & Healthy hosts in conjunction with the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC to provide comprehensive dental care for over 100 community children with the greatest needs. The value of services provided via the 2021 Mobile Dental Clinic was calculated at $256,990.
Dental Screenings are being provided annually by eleven volunteer dentists and dental hygienists who have adopted PUSD elementary sites. The screenings meet the state mandated oral health assessment for kindergarten students.
Teeny Teeth is a dental program aimed to educate pre-K children and their parents on practices that will reduce the chance of transmission of dental disease from parent to child. The program includes dental screenings for pre-K children and is provided by Young & Healthy, in conjunction with the USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry.
Trauma Informed Care is a philosophy used to address the negative implications of childhood trauma, which can cause adverse effects on an individual’s physical, social, emotional, or spiritual wellbeing. Young & Healthy is committed to creating a healthy community for children and families by educating children, parents and educators on how to become more aware of and sensitive to those who have suffered trauma. In turn, Pasadena can become a trauma-informed community. Young & Healthy strives to accomplish this in three ways:
- Relationships/Parent Education - Research indicates that supportive, responsive relationships with caring adults as early in life as possible can prevent or reverse the damaging effects of toxic stress response. (The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard). Through parent education and professional development for teachers Young & Healthy provides skills and information that will strengthen relationships between parents and children, teachers and children, adult to adult relationships and community partner relationships at large.
- Trauma Informed Care Training – Young & Healthy staff members have been trained in trauma informed care and Young & Healthy extends a series of trainings on trauma informed care to the public, PUSD school staff and administrators, local physicians and other healthcare providers, and many community partners.
- Mindfulness is “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn) Evidence shows that the practice of mindfulness can not only change your mind, but can also change your brain through neuroplasticity. Young & Healthy offers mindfulness curriculum in PUSD classrooms at the Kindergarten and 6th grade levels. Learn more about our Mindfulness Program
Our Former Executive Director, Mary Donnelly-Crocker’s TEDxPasadenaWomen talk on Trauma Informed Care.
Connecting Clients to Services
Young & Healthy is a resource hub where individuals may call regarding their needs and we will figure out where you can go for assistance. We do our best to find answers to your questions and fulfill your needs.
The Office of Minority Health has awarded Young & Healthy, in partnership with Day One, a grant to launch a new program called TOMA. TOMA is a free tax preparation program in which we assist the community in filing their taxes and provide education on the many benefits of doing so. Through TOMA, we have educated families on the link between poverty and overall mental health, as well as physical health.
Many residents of Pasadena and Altadena qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax refund designed to benefit working people with low to moderate income. Through our services, we hope to empower people who have not filed their taxes in the past, to do so in order to claim the tax refunds for which they are entitled. This extra income can improve lives by decreasing poverty, improving family health, and reducing family stress.
During tax season, Young & Healthy’s doors will be open to file taxes! We are partnered with Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona’s VITA programs to offer free tax assistance and e-filing services. Contact our office for assistance at 626.795.5166.
Young & Healthy is well connected and has solid relationships with community partners who accept and welcome our referrals. We are a major player in the Pasadena nonprofit community and our community partners and clients respect and want to work with us. Examples of how we stay connected in the community are:
- Learn & Connect Meetings are hosted regularly by Young & Healthy and bring together community wide case managers representing all types of services. We share information so that we may understand the resources that exist in the community, but may extend beyond our own doors.
- Executive Director’s Round Table is a collaborative group in which our executive director participates to get to know other executives and share “best practices” input from other non-profit organizations in the community.
- Collaborate PASadena is a supportive framework of the Pasadena Unified School District and the City of Pasadena made up of individuals, organizations, and businesses dedicated to improving the lives of children and families. Young & Healthy’s executive director sits on the Collaborate PASadena Leadership Council.
- Growing Together PASadena, coordinated by the Pasadena Office of the Young Child, is a network of parents and caregivers, service providers, and early childhood advocates that fosters development of children ages 0-5 and supports families with tools and resources to thrive. Each of the sites in our network serves as a location for families with children ages zero to five to access services and the support they need to flourish, with a specific focus on school readiness.