“WellShare CHW Judith worries for the community and gives her best; she is the voice of the voiceless. I see your commitment in the work you do and I’m so thankful that Wellshare  gives community health workers the opportunity to be out here serving the community.”
-WellShare client, Laura

The Story of Laura
By Judith Garcia

I have been serving the community for more than eight years and after all of my experience, I have learned the importance of community health workers in our society. Many times, we focus solely on the health issue and emphasize going to the doctor, but this isn’t the larger concern. Through my experience, I have learned that many chronic diseases emerge from a lack of access to resources. This is due to language barriers, lack of transportation, or just as simple as not knowing where to call for help. All of these factors can create serious mental health problems due to stress and overall inability to access the help needed.

Through WellShare’s youth program and outreach, Laura heard that I was assisting our community in accessing resources. She reached out to me as she was struggling with a lot of stress, depression, and housing instability. She was going through a divorce and her children didn’t have health insurance. They needed some vaccines, so I first referred her to a MNsure navigator but because of her difficult case, she was unable to get help. Immediately I started making calls and filling out applications, and finally, a couple of months later we got all of her children health insurance that not only covers medical expenses, but dental expenses and additional visits.

When we thought everything was good, Laura suddenly had to go to the emergency room and get emergency surgery. She was without legal status, which made it harder for her to get health insurance. I had been working with Laura on this case for more than 4 months, and we finally got approval to cover all the financial bills that she had due to the surgery. The bills were thousands of dollars that with her being a single mom, she could not afford. I was able to call all the different providers that had billed her and reduce her debt to zero dollars.

In Laura’s words, “CHW Judith worries for the community and gives her best; she is the voice of the voiceless. I see your commitment in the work you do and I’m so thankful that Wellshare  gives community health workers the opportunity to be out here serving the community.”

As a community health worker, I’m beyond thankful for Wellshare for supporting me in the work I do and for continuing to make the change as an organization to be out amidst a community in need. Once again, I find joy in what I do and feel successful in serving the community because of all the resources of the different organizations that are tied to Wellshare.

It is my passion to serve the community that I come from.