So much of what makes La Rabida special are the small things that happen every day, often work that goes far beyond our four walls. Our staff work tirelessly to help patients with more than just their medical needs. These “wraparound” services can range from advocating for a child’s IEP plan at school to helping a family navigate the Medicaid system and everything in between. There are a million of these stories, because each and every one of our employees goes above and beyond for our patients every day. Here are a few recent stories we thought we’d share with you.
Rebuilding a Life
You may have recently seen news coverage of an apartment fire in the South Shore neighborhood. What you didn’t hear on the news is that one of our patient families was displaced by that fire. They were able to find shelter on their own, but still needed clothes, shoes, coats, and more. Because our teams are so integrated, care coordinators Traci Hall and Savannah White connected with George Hardin, our volunteer manager, to see if we had anything we could help them with. Not only was George able to immediately provide the family with some clothes and two coats, but also connected them with one of our community partners, the Eastern Stars Divine #9. These wonderful women support La Rabida in a variety of ways, and George knew they would want to help our patient’s family. And they did – with everything the family needed to survive while rebuilding their home and life.
Finding a Ride to School
Dr. Bhayani, one of our attending physicians, realized that her patient was not going to school routinely during one of her visits. The patient no longer had bus service, her parents did not have a car, and while her uncle could take her sometimes, it was sporadic. Care coordinator, Brenda Colunga, connected with the patient’s school to discuss the issues. The team then wrote a letter explaining the situation and advocate for bus service for our patient. Now, she is back in school and attending routinely!
Battling Food Insecurity
Did you know that La Rabida has a Food Pantry in our Outpatient Center? Many of our patients and families face healthcare disparities and inequities that make getting quality, specialty care difficult. Things like housing insecurity, lack of health insurance, language barriers, transportation difficulties, and food insecurity also have an impact on healing, growth, and development. Initially started with Dr. Hoehn’s outreach and coordination, the La Rabida Food Pantry started with a generous initial donation from the University of Chicago’s Feed First food pantry. Since then, Dr. Hoehn, Lucy Mayhugh, and Christina Linboom have continued to maintain the La Rabida Food Pantry with generous donations from La Rabida staff, and provide a take-what-you-need supply of quality, nutritious foods that families can grab when they come to visit the hospital – no questions asked. We even sometimes have been able to stock personal hygiene items like deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, body wash, etc. We’re so grateful to our staff and supporters who keep it well-stocked, so we can support our families with whatever they need. If you’d like to learn more about, please contact us at notice@larabida.org.
Furniture Resource
La Rabida partners with Chicago Furniture Bank (CFB) to help ensure some of our families can turn their empty spaces into a real home, ensuring that each family member has their own bed, there is a table to eat family meals together, and they can enjoy the comfort of a furnished home. Recently, we helped a mother of one of our patients connect with CFB as she was moving out on her own for the first time in her entire life. Knowing that her children were each going to have their own bed to sleep in left her in tears of joy. She was also thrilled that they would have a dining room table where they could eat together, the kids could do homework, and they could start a family game night. All of the families we’ve helped through CFB have been extremely grateful for the furniture and the ability to build a healthy and happy home.
