Nonprofits seek water donations for Valley’s homeless

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With another scorching hot summer nearly here, the danger of dehydration is very present and real, and this health risk is even greater for the Valley’s homeless, who often do not have access to life-sustaining water.

Nonprofit groups across the Valley are committed to providing these at-risk individuals and families with the water they desperately need to survive another triple-digit summer.

The Department of Economic Security reported in 2009 that nearly 7,000 children and youth in Arizona experienced homelessness and received services from state nonprofit organizations.

MARICOPA COUNTY

There are more than 8,000 homeless individuals in Maricopa County alone. The Human Service Campus, a group of 15 homeless service providers, has created the “Thirst Aid” program in an effort to reduce incidences of heat-related death among the county’s homeless population. They hope that the community will support them in their goal of collecting and distributing 500,000 bottles of water between May 1 and September 30.

Tax-deductible donations can be made online at ThirstAidAZ.org, or by mailing checks payable to the Humane Services Campus to 204 S. 12th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

Cases of bottled water can be donated directly to one of the following three locations:

Human Service Campus Office at the Success Center

• 204 South 12th Ave., Pheonix 85007
• 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday -Friday

Central Arizona Shelter Services

• 203 South 12th Avenue, Phoenix 85007
• 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday -Friday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Saturday

Lodestar Day Resource Center

• 1125 West Jackson Street, Phoenix 85007
• 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday -Sunday

Pickup services are also available in some areas. For more information or to schedule a pickup, contact Holly at 602-229-1242.

MESA

For the fifth year in a row, the City of Mesa will partner with local nonprofit groups to provide bottled water to the city’s homeless in the sweltering summer months through the Hydration Donation Program. Residents donated and distributed over 100,000 bottles last year.

The program’s five drop-off locations will receive donations of bottled water beginning June 1 through September 16. These locations include:

Mesa Fire Department Volunteer Center

• 2830 E. Adobe (located behind Fire Station 206 at Lindsay and Adobe)
• 24 hour drop-off in parking lot

Red Mountain Multigenerational Center

• 7550 E. Adobe
• 5:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday – Friday; 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday

United Food Bank

• 245 S. Nina Drive (north of Broadway between Extension and Alma School)
• 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday-Friday (collection bins available on weekends)

Paz de Cristo

• 424 W. Broadway
• 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday; 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday – Sunday

A New Leaf – MesaCAN

• 635 E. Broadway
• 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Friday in the lobby

Give the life-giving gift of water to homeless children, adults and families in the Valley! — Sadie Smeck

WellCare helps single moms

Patty* of Phoenix was seeking answers for the reasons her baby, Luca, was suffering. Being a single mom with no health insurance, she didn’t know where to turn, until she found the WellCare Foundation.

“No words can adequately express just how truly grateful I am for all the dedicated doctors, nurses, and staff at WellCare, as well as the key people at St. Joseph’s Hospital for performing the surgery,” Patty said.

Another struggling mother, Shelly* of Phoenix, found stress release with the help of WellCare. At the time, Shelly was working multiple jobs and trying to ensure that her daughter, Cory, was taken care of and covered by health insurance.

“It is so nice to have people truly care about you when you have forgotten to care about yourself,” Shelly said.

The WellCare Foundation was founded in 1999 by Marge Ebeling, RN, DCh, and Ph.D. Ebeling wanted to provide free, integrated, primary health care to single working mothers and their children who are not reliant on state assistance and cannot afford insurance or pay out-of-pocket for care.

Ebeling and her husband, Les, along with 12 other health care practitioners and friends worked together to get the foundation going and in 2002 opened in Central Phoenix. As time went on, the need for health care grew and so did WellCare.

“The 2006 Community Census stated there were 175,000 of these single mother families without health care in Maricopa County,” Ebeling said. “WellCare needed to expand its capacity to care for more children and their mothers, so in 2008 WellCare opened its third clinic at the Gilbert Boys and Girls Club and its fourth at Fresh Start Women’s Resource Center.”

WellCare now has five clinics and 135 licensed volunteer practitioners. In the past ten years, the organization has provided more than $2.5 million of integrated health care to those that qualify for their services.

WellCare’s services include family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine, counseling, ophthalmology, naturopathic medicine, physical therapy, cardiology, podiatry, optometry, dermatology, chiropractic, gynecology, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nutrition counseling and neurology.

“WellCare’s integrated, holistic model of care is very proactive and is different from other programs because we focus on the notch group of underserved single, working mothers and their children,” Ebeling said.

In the future Ebeling hopes to double the number of volunteer practitioners from 137 to 300 and hire enough nursing staff to have all five WellCare clinics open four days a week so that more mothers and children who need care can be seen.

“We need more volunteer health care practitioners and lay volunteers,” Ebeling said. “WellCare is campaigning for more financial support from private donors and ongoing corporate financial support.”

For more information on the WellCare Foundation or to volunteer opportunities, visit their website at www.wellcarefoundation.org or call (602)-263-4092.

*the last names of mothers were withheld for privacy purposes.

Granting wishes for 30 years

Make-A-Wish is a household name around the United States, but did you know it started right here in sunny Arizona? In 1980, a seven-year-old boy named Chris Grecius was diagnosed with leukemia. All he wanted in the world was to be a motorcycle officer when he grew up, which now seemed like an impossible wish.

Fortunately, the Department of Public Safety granted that wish before Grecius’ passing. The staff made him the first and only honorary Highway Patrolman in Arizona’s history.

It was in that emotional and beautiful moment that the Make-A-Wish was born.

Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted more than 190,000 wishes across the country.

“The mission is simple,” said Liz Kaplan, director of corporate fundraising and media relations. “We grant wishes to children with life-threatening illness to help improve their physical, mental and emotional well being.”

However, it isn’t just the children with granted wishes that feel the benefits of the foundation’s work. The entire family is given an opportunity to put aside the challenges for a day and enjoy being together to experience their child’s dream come true.

“I recently participated on a wish for a young girl to go to Disneyland,” said Kaplan. “The father was extremely emotional and his profound love for his family was evident. It was a moment I will never forget.”

Make-A-Wish depends on the dedication of a large body of volunteers, as well as vital funding from donors, to make each wish come true. If you are interested in how you can participate, visit WishAZ for more information.

“I know that we bring hope, strength and joy to each family we touch”, said Kaplan. “The Foundation has been successful because the community sees the value of providing children with life threatening illnesses their wish and have come together to make those wishes a reality.”

Welcome to the RAK Community blog!

As the new Community Relations Manager for Raising Arizona Kids, part of my role is to update the RAK Community blog with local events and topics related to families. Having a background in public relations and nonprofits, this blog provides me with an outlet to share my passion of connecting the public with quality information that encourages interaction and discussion.

My path to Arizona is not uncommon. I came by way of the Midwest – the big sprawling suburbia that is the Chicago metro area. My time in the windy city made me realize the necessity of belonging to a community to make my surroundings less intimidating and more welcoming. I had my doubts about the ability of Phoenix to create that same community and make me feel at home.

What I have come to find over the last two and a half years is that Phoenix has all the aspects of a small town convincingly wrapped up in a big town package – the perfect set-up for community building.

Perhaps it was the reluctance of city planners to build freeways, or the hesitation of natives to become a sprawling metropolis. Whatever the cause, Phoenix has managed to maintain it’s unique community identities while becoming the fifth largest city in the U.S.

It is these tight knit and specialized communities that will keep me here in Phoenix for years to come. It is also what has brought me to work here.

Having been in the Valley for 20 years, RAK has established a relationship with its readers as a trusted source for information regarding all aspects of parenting – from pregnancy to seeing children off to college. Additionally, RAK has become a staple at community events and a strong supporter of local causes.

This blog will seek to draw on that relationship with the community by highlighting local events, nonprofit activities and general topics we see as important to the RAK and Arizona communities.

If you have local community events you would like to share, please email me with the details.