Our Impact on Families
Currently, Project HEALTH's corps of nearly 600 volunteers assists over 4,000 families a year in accessing the resources they need to be healthy.
The results are significant. Over a five-month period last year, Family Help Desk clients at Boston Medical Center received the following resources:
- 205 families secured housing, including Section 8 and market rate units and shelters
- 154 clients obtained slots in child care, after school, and Head Start programs
- 135 clients accessed food stamps, food pantries, dollar-a-bag programs, or farmers' markets
Across our 16 Family Help Desks, an average of 52% of families actually obtain at least one resource they need - i.e., receive food, secure child care, find an apartment - within 90 days of receiving services at the Desk, with the remainder receiving ongoing follow-up until they obtain the resource.
Volunteers continue to follow with all families until they obtain appropriate resources to meet each of their needs. Over three-quarters of Family Help Desk clients present with multiple needs, and over one-third of clients present with 3 or more needs. On average, each client receives assistance in accessing an average of three different community resources.
During a brutally cold week in November, the Jackson family arrived at the Harriet Lane Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, panicked by their three year-old's escalating asthma attacks. During the family's visit, their pediatrician learned that the Jacksons and their three young children lived with 11 other people in a dilapidated Baltimore apartment, amid asbestos and peeling lead paint. Unable to find regular work, the Jacksons stretched their income as far as possible, but often ran out of food at the end of the month. A week prior, the utilities company cut off their heat and gas, precipitating their son's increasingly frequent asthma attacks.
After talking with the family, the doctor prescribed medicine for the child's asthma and a visit to Project HEALTH's Family Help Desk in the clinic waiting room. Sonia Sarkar, a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University and Project HEALTH volunteer, tackled the case.
Within a few weeks, her advocacy had yielded remarkable results: With Sonia's help the entire Jackson family enrolled in health insurance, reducing their reliance on expensive emergency room visits. The family also obtained financial assistance to turn back on their heat and buy healthy food for their children, and Mrs. Jackson enrolled in a job training program, putting her family on the path to financial stability and good health.
