Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Craig

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Feb 102012
 

Helping Heart Foundation Resident Craig from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Craig became a Helping Heart Foundation Resident a few years ago when he realized his options for safe, secure and affordable housing were running out. Having battled a lifelong addiction to alcohol and drugs Craig was beset upon by injuries and illnesses that made life on the street–and therefore life in and out of hospitals–an impossibility. Craig’s life is still difficult, but with the stable environment that the Helping Hearts Foundation provides he is making it one day at a time.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 503(c) non-profit organization that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Alberto

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Dec 272011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Alberto from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Alberto’s is a bittersweet story of a man with a loving family, a positive outlook on life, boundless energy who was diagnosed with multiple terminal illnesses and spent his last days as a resident of the Helping Hearts Foundation. Surrounded by family and friends, he was smiling and talking up to the end. We wish that he may rest in peace.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Residents Sue and Bridget

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Dec 212011
 

Sue & Bridget from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Sue & Bridget have formed a part of the Helping Hearts Community for more than a year now. Living in the same house has allowed them to form a bond which has sped along the healing process for both of them, each in their own different ways. Proper placement within a nurturing environment while helping to maintain their autonomy and independence is just one of the ways we strive to help people.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Residents Roland and Janette

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Dec 202011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Residents Roland and Janette from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Roland & his wife Janette have been with Helping Hearts Foundation for more than two years. Despite their own physical disabilites they do their best to act as anchors to the community of residents, by fixing breakfast every morning and talking openly and honestly.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Tara a Helping Hearts Resident Rescue

 Blog, Rescues  No Responses »
Dec 012011
 
Helping Hearts Resident Rescue - Tara

Helping Hearts Resident Rescue - Tara

It’s easy to take a safe, secure and healthy living environment for granted. Most people grow up without having to worry about these seemingly simple requirements. They are just there, provided by an invisible network of parents and family, friends and co-workers. It is a part of the social contract. Yet for a small, but growing percentage of people, cracks in the network are showing. The contract is showing its age.

The global economy is unpredictable. Jobs are shipped overseas. Unemployment keeps on going up. Prices on basic needs like food and water, shelter and utilities are rising. Many people who are lucky enough to have a job live paycheck to paycheck, unable to save anything for a rainy day. Those that don’t live hand to mouth and often depend on the government for any of the following Social Security programs:

  • Federal Old-Age (Retirement), Survivors, and Disability Insurance
  • Unemployment benefits
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
  • Health Insurance for Aged and Disabled (Medicare)
  • Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs (Medicaid)
  • State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

What happens when you wake up in the hospital after having been struck down by a sudden illness, hit by a car, or worse debilitated by a disease you had no idea ran in your family? Do you have a healthy savings account? Family to care for you? Medical insurance? Or are you a part of the growing number of Americans who walk around without a safety net? Assisted living, skilled nursing, and board and care facilities can be outrageously expensive. What is the alternative in today’s downturn economy? Overcrowded living conditions in vermin-infested residential housing? Is that the American dream or the American nightmare?

Tara is an example of a humble and selfless mother of four who has seen more than her share of doctors offices. Recently having undergone a hip replacement surgery and scheduled to undergo a replacement on the other hip as well as both knees in the coming year, she found herself living in a house teeming with both tenants and vermin. Overcrowded with individuals on fixed-low incomes as well as infested with rodents, cockroaches and toxic black mold, Tara realized that it was time for a change.

Within a few hours of informing her UC Davis Medical center orthopedist of her living situation Helping Hearts Foundation had gotten in contact with her and was on their way out to her place of residence. The photos below represent how they found her and–after explaining the Helping Hearts Foundation system to her (she agreed to relocate the following day)–providing her with a tour of the house she moved into.

Perhaps the phrase what a difference a day makes has never rung so true.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Heather

 Blog  No Responses »
Nov 202011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Heather from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Coming from a family with a history of bi-polar disorder did not help Heather when domestic violence reared its head in both of her marriages, the latter of which left her sexually battered, destitute and living alone–after an ugly divorce—in an apartment complex inhabited by rival gangs. The worst came to fruition as she was burnt, drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple males, after which she suffered a stroke which left her lying incapacitated and naked on the floor for several days. To add insult to injury the staff at the hospital did not believe her version of the story and as such did not complete a rape kit. Despite having lived a continuously tumultuous life of distress and violence over the past ten years, her spirit is indomitable and she has done her best to maintain a level head for more than a year at Helping Hearts Foundation.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Janette

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Nov 182011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Janette from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Waylaid in Las Vegas by cardiac arrest while on a trip to Illinois to visit her grandchildren, one of the nation’s first female forklift operators was attacked by a ruthless mugger. Repeated kicks to the head resulted in severe brain trauma, three stints in her heart and spinal damage that left her nearly incapacitated. Transferred from a Las Vegas hospital to a Sacramento facility she has never fully recovered. Yet despite her horrible injuries she continues to be a big smile and warm personality while helping others in need. While recuperating from her injuries at her family’s home and waiting for her husband, she found Helping Hearts Foundation and convinced her husband that they had found a home.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Kurt

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Nov 152011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Kurt from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

“Nothing can get me down.” Kurt always says. A professional arm-wrestler sponsored by Budweiser, this Auburn native was a peer counselor for troubled youth when a workplace accident—a mere slip on the floor—altered the course of his life. Becoming L-1 paraplegic and legally blind due to complications with aggressive Dry Macular and Retinal diseases, he also has a pacemaker, and Six Sinus Syndrome and Regional Complex Pain Syndrome. To help him contend with these seemingly overwhelming disabilities one rescue Chihuahua from Kern County named Hami and a Canine Companions-licensed service Labrador named Anika.

While attending Hadley School for the Blind he regularly lifts weights and swims at the YMCA . He also plays baseball through Sacramento Access Leisure, plays the drums, is teaching himself bass guitar, and is a balsa wood model enthusiast.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Krista

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Nov 092011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Krista from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Krista is the youngest resident the Helping Hearts Foundation has reached out to. She has been with us only a short time, but has touched the lives of many around her with her warm and exuberant energy and her desire to overcome life’s many obstacles. With positive outlook and continued support she will go far.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Bio Arturo

 Blog, Resident Biographies  No Responses »
Nov 012011
 

Helping Hearts Foundation Resident Arturo from Helping Hearts Foundation on Vimeo.

Arturo has been a resident with Helping Hearts Foundation for more than a year. Since joining us he has thrived as an artist who appreciates the independent lifestyle HHF offers its residents.

Helping Hearts Foundation is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Sacramento, California that was created to help those in need of everyday living assistance. We believe our work lies in relieving the stress of the emergency rooms, hospitals, shelters, and the working poor who, due to an unending economic downturn, can no longer properly provide for their loved ones on a fixed low income. We want to be there for those people that are misplaced or are difficult to place, people from skilled nursing and referral agencies that have a difficult combination of problems to address, and people who need a high level of care and have a low income.

 Older Entries