February is often regarded as the month of love; however, that does not mean it has to be centered on love between a person and their partner. February can also be about love between oneself (self-love), love between friends (platonic love), or in our case, programs we’re loving! In honor of this lovely month, we’d like to take this time to bring attention to some amazing local programs that are working to increase equity and access within the Jacksonville community.
The first program we’d like to highlight is United Way of Northeast Florida. United Way works to “solve our community’s toughest challenges by connecting people, resources and ideas”. Through their 211 helpline, they are able to connect people “of all ages and walks of life to essential health, human and social services”. We love United Way because they help to provide our clients with free medical-related ride services. This helps to eliminate a huge barrier to health care for our clients, transportation.
Another program we’re loving is Vax 904! Vax 904 is an initiative “of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the City of Jacksonville, and local health care and community wellness partners”. They work “to provide COVID-19 education and resources to residents of Duval County”. We love them because we know where to direct our clients who need free COVID-19 testing and vaccine information.
UF Health Financial Assistance, also know as the UF Health City Contract, and formerly known as the “Shands Card”, is another program that we love. Although it is a high barrier application, when our clients qualify for UF Health City Contract, they get access to free primary care and all specialties offered under the UF Health umbrella. It’s a great option for clients of ours whose needs cannot be met by WeCareJax providers, or whose health issues are too complex to be taken care of in charitable care.
Last, but certainly not least, we’d like to highlight Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida (LSS). LSS offers many support services like career and financial coaching, HIV/AIDS care, hunger relief, money management, and refugee support to all residents of Jacksonville. We partner with them on a monthly basis at their Community Resource Fair. We also work with their Health & Wellness team to get their clients connected to the health care that they need.
At JaxCareConnect, we’re proud to help our clients take a holistic approach to their wellbeing. That means, not only are we connecting clients to free and charitable health care, we’re also working to address other needs and barriers to care. We wouldn’t be able to do this work without these wonderful community partners – one of the many reasons we love them. If you, or any of your loved ones, need access to free and charitable health care, we can help. Click here to get connected.
Resources:
https://ufhealthjax.org/patient-care/financial-assistance.aspx
