At Arab American Family Services, our commitment to the clients that what through our doors is our top priority. We are always touched by the stories that our clients have and it is the push we need to keep us going strong and serving the community.
Recently, we were approached by a 37-year-old female with a rare, disabling condition that could easily be treated with physical therapy. The problem she faced was that she was uninsured and not eligible for Medicaid due to the requirements.
She was seeking treatment at Stroger’s Cook County Hospital and they were only giving her therapy one time, every two weeks. Her condition was worsening and she was told by the doctors that since she has no insurance she can only have therapy once every two weeks; but was told her condition would greatly improve if she was able to get therapy 4 times a week, something she could not do.
With her condition, and being uninsured, she was left to dwindle away in her wheel chair and was told she may be paralyzed without treatment.
She came to us in hopes that we can provide her with some kind of insurance that would accept her. AAFS called every resource they had in mind, but no one would accept her.
We decided to make one more call, one of our resources who is a physical therapist, and we explained her situation to them and the dire need that she can be paralyzed. They accepted her on a charity basis providing she brings in an order from her doctors with her medical reports. Joy overwhelmed our client, she began to cry.
Our client is a young mother of two young children. She has an incredibly supportive husband who tries so hard to take care of her, the kids and work to keep a roof over their heads.
This was such an inspiring story. She touched our hearts in such a way, partly because she wanted to fight so hard, not just for herself and her health, but for her young family. The love for her children and will to keep trying to get herself out of her wheelchair was incredible.
Many people would be depressed and shut down, but she did not. She was determined to find help. Her children were her motivation. I teared up also at the way her husband showed her no sign of being bothered by taking care of her. The family showed nothing but love and support for one another. Their strong faith in God and accepting what they have to go through only strengthened the love of the family.
These are stories with outcomes that we want to hear everyday. We want to be a part of your happiness and success and at AAFS, our goal and mission will always remain the same- help strengthen and educate our community and give hope and answers were some may think all hope is gone.
