Mission of Mercy – $3,750
Access to Healthcare for Uninsured Glendale Residents
According to the US Census, 14% of Glendale residents have no health insurance, which is higher than Maricopa County’s uninsured rate of 10.5%. This means that more than 35,000 people cannot afford quality, reliable healthcare. Of those without health insurance, half are employed, 36% are employed full-time, and 24% earn less than 138% of the Federal Poverty Level ($44,367 for a family of four). With recent changes to AHCCCS and the Affordable Care Act, hundreds more residents may have lost health coverage since these statistics were tracked.
The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that in 2023, 46.6% of uninsured adults delayed or did not seek healthcare, including prescription medications, due to cost, and 42.8% reported they do not have a medical home. Hispanic adults, non-elderly adults, adults in poor health, and uninsured adults are more likely to delay or forgo care due to cost. Even with charity care from nonprofit hospitals, uninsured patients are still responsible for paying 40% of their care out of pocket, significantly impacting their ability to meet other essential needs such as food, rent, or utilities.
Our target population is individuals and families who are uninsured, underinsured, homeless, working poor, refugees, seniors, and/or veterans. Most work multiple part-time jobs. Some are single parents. None qualify for other services. Some earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little for private insurance. Most of our patients identify as racial or ethnic minorities, speak limited English, and have little education and low health literacy. 70% of patients are female; 30% are male. Nearly 10% are ages 18-34; 58% are ages 35-60; and 32%are ages 65+.
In addition, all of our Glendale patients suffer from at least one chronic condition – the most prevalent of which are high blood pressure (74.8%), diabetes (62.6%), and high cholesterol (47%) – making the need for our services critical.
Without MOM clinics, the consequences of patients not managing their chronic or acute conditions could be critical. They could find themselves in significant debt from overwhelming medical expenses, unemployed due to health issues, at risk of severe complications such as heart disease and stroke, and possibly early death. Through access to ongoing primary care and managing chronic illness, our patients can improve their job stability and income by avoiding excessive time off for illness, which in turn leads to greater family stability and overall quality of life.
MOM’s services align with From the Heart’s mission in that we improve the lives of Glendale residents through providing quality, affordable healthcare to those without insurance. In FY27, MOM projects providing healthcare services to 14 Glendale residents. Most Glendale patients visit our clinics in Central Phoenix and Avondale, though From the Heart funds will support residents no matter which clinic they visit as we have no geographic restrictions.