A decade ago, our patient Maria's life took a drastic and unexpected turn: Maria suffered a stroke. This life-altering event left her with various challenges, including mobility impairment, difficulty carrying out daily tasks and multiple surgeries. Since her stroke, she has been a patient of Ravenswood Family Health Network where she now utilizes many of the services, including family medicine, optometry, social services, and the laboratory and pharmacy.

Social services have played a pivotal role in Maria's health and well-being. In March of 2023, she missed medical appointments, had overdue labs, and was at risk of losing state In-Home Support Services (IHSS). Ravenswood's social services manager, Karla, made a visit to Maria's home and noticed Maria lacked motivation to attend to her medical needs. Jacqueline, Ravenswood's medical social worker, began making regular visits to help Maria overcome any health challenges.

The biggest barrier Maria was facing was transportation to and from the clinic, which was why she was missing appointments. Ravenswood's transportation coordinator, Zack, began coordinating her rides, and eventually showed her how to order a ride online through Redi-Wheels, a transportation service assisting the mobility impaired people traveling in San Mateo County.

Maria said: "Being able to schedule my own rides to the clinic helps make me feel more self-reliant." She is also excited to be able to order a ride to her physical therapy where she is learning to walk again.

Another struggle Maria faced was food insecurity. For some time, Maria's mother would walk to the closest grocery store, which is about a mile away. Maria would sit in her bed and worry when her mother went to the store because she had a bad knee and grocery bags were heavy. To help the family, Jacqueline connected them to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Through one of the food bank's programs, Maria has been receiving bi-weekly grocery drop offs to her front door.

"Having food delivered to my home has helped me feel more secure and relaxed about my health," shared Maria.

The latest obstacle that our social services team is working on overcoming with Maria is creating a comfortable and safe place to shower. Each day, Maria's sister commutes from San Jose to help her get cleaned up. Since her bathroom has a really high tub that she has not been able to get into safely, Maria sits in a chair in her kitchen where she gets lathered and washed. To help Maria feel more independent, Jacqueline has been working with Maria's insurance company, the apartment landlord, and contract workers to reconstruct her bathtub. Maria looks forward to having more privacy after the reconstruction.

Maria enjoys having in-home visits with Jacqueline and receiving care at Ravenswood. She feels good about being an advocate for her own health.

Karla said: "She has been a beautiful evolving patient. The biggest thing for me is her motivation. Going from depressed to hopeful and determined."

With the help of our social services team, Maria has regained hope, mobility, strength, and determination to attend to her medical needs. She has been attending all medical appointments and has built a strong relationship with Karla, Jacqueline, and the entire social services team.

Ravenswood Family Health Network is dedicated to supporting the overall health and well being of all our patients. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a higher demand for necessary resources to reduce health disparities. A few of the care gaps our patients face are access to food, safe and affordable housing, domestic violence resources, and more.

Ravenswood, which operates the MayView Community Health Center in Mountain View, is one of seven nonprofits receiving money through the Mountain View's Voice's Holiday Fund.

Every year, donations to the Holiday Fund are divided equally among a group of local nonprofits that serve people in need. The Voice and its Holiday Fund partner, the nonprofit Silicon Valley Community Foundation, absorb all administrative costs to run the fund, and all donations are tax-deductible.

For more information about the Holiday Fund, go to mv-voice.com.com/holidayfund. To give a donation online, go to embarcaderomediafoundation.org/holiday-fund/mountain-view. Checks can be made payable to Mountain View Voice Holiday Fund and sent to 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto 94306. The Holiday Fund campaign will run through early January, with grants awarded in the spring.

Lourdes Sanchez is a fundraising and marketing supervisor for Ravenswood Family Health Network.