Our Success Stories

Children's Health Initiative of Orange County is making it possible for families to afford health care for children, as well as parents, but to do so we need your help! Donate today and invest in children and families all over Orange County... because one uninsured child is one too many.

You can help families such as these access health coverage and social support programs, providing them with the foundation for a lifetime of opportunity and success.

The Talero Family

Laura Talero and her children came to one of Children's Health Initiative of Orange County sites located at HOPE Clinic in Costa Mesa. Laura's three children required the Tdap vaccine in order to register for school, however they were uninsured. Laura had no income and had had to move in with her parents because her husband had been missing for over a year and she feared the worst. Luckily, HOPE Clinic referred her to our representative, Magdalena Hurtado, who assisted Laura in finding health coverage for her children.

Using the One–e–App eligibility and application database, Magdalena informed Laura that in addition to being eligible for Medi–Cal for herself and her children, they also qualified for CalFresh (Food Stamps) and CalWORKs (Cash Aid), which would help them financially through this difficult time.

The same day, a social worker with the Orange County Social Services Agency called Laura to follow up with her applications. Laura was able to make an appointment for the following day. Laura explained to the social worker that her family had no income because her husband was missing. The social worker informed her that she would be approved immediately due to the urgency of her case. With the help of Children's Health Initiative of Orange County, Laura was able to obtain health insurance and social services for herself and her family within two days. Laura no longer has to fear that her children will be unable to attend school, become ill or go hungry.

The Velazquez Family

Through the One–e–App eligibility and application data base, CHI OC was able to track this family and found that they were assisted by a St. Joseph CAA in 2009 at which time they had been actively enrolled into the Healthy Families program.

On August 22, 2011 Czaia suffered trauma to her knee during a high school soccer game. She tore her ACL and MCL and was rushed into surgery to repair her damaged ligaments. Thanks to Healthy Families, the entire procedure was covered and Czaia had a successful surgery. On September 14th while attending a physical therapy appointment they were informed that they were no longer covered through Healthy Families. With this, they came to Children's Health Initiative of Orange County (CHI OC) on the same day. Like many families, Czaia's parents have been affected by the economic downturn. Due to lack of income, Czaia's father, Alejo, was embarrassed to admit in front of his daughter for the first time that he had been returning all of their mail for almost a year, because he was unable to pay any of their bills. Consequently, one of the return pieces of mail was their Healthy Families annual renewal form [AER], leaving Czaia, a soccer player at Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, without insurance.

Fortunately, the Velazquez family came to CHI OC where they were helped by Health Care Access Coordinator, Yesenia Garcia. Yesenia assisted them in completing a modified Healthy Families application through One–e–App and obtained current documents from the family.

Through the follow–up efforts of the CAA, the Velazquez family was informed by Healthy Families that she will be approved on September 29th. Coincidently, this date was the next scheduled physical therapy appointment.

Through CHI OC's efforts, this high school athlete can continue the appropriate recovery process.

How to help!

Online Donation via PayPal

Simply click the "Make a Donation" button in the left margin to process credit card or paypal account contributions

Contributions by Check

Please make checks payable to Children's Health Initiative of Orange County and send checks by mail to:

Children's Health Initiative of Orange County
1120 West La Veta Avenue, Suite 200
Orange, CA 92968