EHF COVID-19 Grants Support Efforts to Improve Health and Not Just Health Care in Texas
As COVID-19 began to hit Texas, Guadalupe knew there would be big changes coming. She planned out meals to cook, stocked up on cleaning wipes, and began working from her home in Fort Bend County instead of going into the office. But weeks later, she says her world stopped. “I lost everything,” Guadalupe said. “How was I going to survive?” Guadalupe hadn’t tested positive for COVID-19. She had lost her job. After 19 years working as an accounts payable clerk for the same company, she was laid off. The thought of no more paychecks was scary enough, but the stress of losing her health insurance was almost too much to take. “I was desperate,” she said. “What was I going to do without my medicine? Where do I start? What do I do next? The anxiety was terrible.” Guadalupe is a grandmother of 10, who battles chronic asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure. She depended on health insurance to help pay for regular trips to the doctor and monthly prescriptions. She couldn’t afford the sky-high COBRA premiums to keep her current insurance, and all of her other bills were accumulating. That’s when Guadalupe decided to apply for food and medicine assistance from Fort Bend County. She ended up with several boxes of groceries and a referral to AccessHealth, a federally qualified health center in Richmond. “I’ve never been so blessed than the day I walked into that clinic,” she said. Employees, nurses and doctors at AccessHealth were able to see Guadalupe, set her up with consistent check-ups, and maintain her regular medicines. They also provided counseling to help her deal with the mounting stress. All of this they did for a price Guadalupe could afford. “Never did I ever dream I would need this kind of help, but they lifted me up from rock bottom,” she said. AccessHealth is just one of many clinics and other organizations supported by the Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF) that is impacting families across the diocese during COVID-19. From the beginning of the crisis, EHF’s focus was keeping these important organizations alive and resilient during what became a growing public health and financial emergency. 46 | Texas Episcopalian 2021
