Patricia Alonso, program director for the Healthier Kids Foundation, poses at the agency’s office in San Jose on Friday, June 16. (Rashel Naranjo/Mosaic)
Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Workshop for Bay Area high school students, a two-week crash course in journalism. Program students report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
For some San Jose residents, accessing adequate medical care is a difficult challenge. The Healthier Kids Foundation, Gardner Health Services, and the Vietnam American Service Center are just a few organizations that strive to improve the lives of children and adults. These organizations focus on offering programs to those who stumble upon financial hardship.
The Healthier Kids Foundation aims to eliminate health care barriers affecting today’s youth. Program director Patricia Alonso said a variety of programs are offered to families such as 10 Steps to Healthier Health, as well as free pregnancy, dentistry, hearing and vision care.
We also have a program that identifies uninsured families and assists them through the application process, he said.
The foundation selects the children and follows them to provide assistance where they need it. Parent Advocates assist adoptive parents in accessing timely medical and dental appointments. The Baby Gateway program enrolls newborns in Medi-Cal, offering parenting and health care resources before they are discharged from their hospital.
Before the pandemic, we supported the community in many different ways, one of which was through our diaper distribution program, Alonso said.
The Healthier Kids Foundation has three main strategies: improving access to and utilization of health care, changing health behavior through education, and advocating for health policy and systems change.
Our main focus is the overall well-being of the child, said Alonso. We call the parents and communicate with the affiliated clinics to make the medical appointments necessary for the well-being of the child.
The newly built Vietnamese American Service Center aims to serve San Jose’s Vietnamese residents with medical care. VASC is a one stop shop, said Senior Manager Liem Ly. Clinical staff help with food and nutrition programs and walk people through the Medi-Cal and Medicaid application process.
VASC is a government program, free of charge, that includes laboratory services, a pharmacy, dental and behavioral clinics, Ly said. We have a variety of different community based organizations. Occasionally, we have partnered with our team to provide services at no cost. Our primary goal is to offer a one-stop shop program so that our community does not have to visit multiple locations for vital safety net services provided by the county.
More information is available on the VASC website, such as resources and information about health and human services such as bilingual translation, health coverage enrollment, and benefits assistance.
Gardner Health Services helps low-income families by providing them with the resources they need at minimal cost. Residents of Santa Clara County and San Mateo County have access to primary care, immunizations, no-cost and low-cost pharmaceuticals, emergency and specialty care. This organization also provides special behavior programs, serves the homeless population, and provides help to all regardless of legal status.
According to development director Maribel Montanez, Gardner helps people who don’t have access to medical care, with a degressive rate based on how much a client earns.
Access to Gardner health services comes with options, Montanez said. You can get in touch with one of our clinics or contact one of our enrollment advisors.
Additional resources include:
- Santa Clara County Information and Referral Services: Dial 2-1-1
- Blanca Alvarado Community Resource Center: 408-376-2000
- Community Health Partnerships Health Coverage Line: 408-579-6028
- Gardner Health Services Health Insurance Enrollment: 408-457-7100
#San #Jose #agencies #provide #health #care #lowincome #residents
Image Source : www.mercurynews.com