Sadly, gun violence is more often in the news than we would like. With the recent event at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, it can be a scary time for both adults and children.
Counting on the support of relatives, family, and community helpers can make difficult times more manageable.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you are in distress or if you feel overwhelmed. The counseling staff is available to you through telehealth or on-site at both Airline and Denver Harbor Locations.
Call for a counseling appointment
Counselors are available for telehealth and in-person visits.
Denver Harbor Family Health Center
713-674-3326
Airline Children and Women’s Health Center
713-695-4013
Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers
Here are links to download some helpful tips for parents for teachers from the National Association of School Psychologists.
Call 713-674-3326 to start your application process
Don’t stop getting health care if you’ve become unemployed!
Vecino Health Center’s Get Care program is all about removing the financial barriers that can get in the way of receiving regular health care.
If you’ve recently become unemployed, we’re here for you
Patients enrolled in the Get Care program can receive medical, counseling, and dental services through telehealth or at Vecino’s clinics without worrying about how much it’s going to cost.
Once enrolled, fees for care are established on a sliding scale, based on your current financial situation.
What’s more, you may be eligible for coverage, but knowing your options can be very challenging. We’ll help you understand and apply for the benefits that are available to you.
Get Care, and stay well
We care about your health, and it’s especially important to make it a priority during these uncertain times of COVID-19.
Call 713-674-3326, or enter your name, and email or phone in the form below and an eligibility specialist will contact you to start the application process.
Privacy policy: We will only use your information to respond to you regarding the reason you contacted us. Your information will not be shared.
Vecino’s Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative is taking a comprehensive, community-centered approach to tackling the most challenging health issues facing families in northeast Houston.
The health of families and communities begins with women and girls
The research is clear: the health of women and girls determines the health and well-being of the community. Health outcomes extend far beyond clinics and exam rooms. Health is centered in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of work and worship. When we focus on a woman’s health and the health of her family, we transform the community as a whole.
Families in northeast Houston havesome of the lowest life expectancies in the country. Rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity are high and engagement in prenatal care is low. The new initiative seeks to reverse these trends by reimagining the way women and their families engage with healthcare services at Vecino.
An integrated approach to tackle unacceptably high rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity
Vecino Health Centers has long understood that healthcare is most effective when it is patient-centered and community-centered. The Healthy Women → Healthy FamiliesInitiative takes this approach a step further.
Instead of focusing on standalone appointments that treat a single health issue, patients engage in care through a lifespan approach. Services are delivered as a bundle of care by a coordinated, multidisciplinary team.
There are many factors that affect health. The health of families and the communities in which they live have a significant impact on the health of women. With this in mind, Vecino is implementing a broad approach to women’s health care through the initiative. Specialty care for women now includes care for all members of the family unit. Vecino’s community outreach efforts are also expanding through the Initiative to include health forums and screenings and additional partnerships with community-based organizations.
Designed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals
The model for the Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative was designed by a multidisciplinary team of medical, behavioral health, and social service experts at Vecino. It integrates the following four components:
Women’s health: Women’s specialty care is delivered as a bundle of comprehensive services. These services focus on all aspects of wellbeing, including the non-medical factors in a women’s life that affect her physical and mental health.
Prenatal and postnatal health: A multidisciplinary team is delivering Vecino’s specialty maternity care. This includes the broad spectrum of prenatal care, from pre-conception and family planning through breastfeeding consultation and postpartum care.
Family health: Specialty care for women encompasses care for all members of the family unit. This includes pediatric care, wellness exams for adults and children, behavioral health services, and substance abuse treatment.
Community health: Vecino is expanding its partnership with schools and community-based organizations to promote the overall well-being of the community and neighborhoods where patients live, study, and work. Community health workers are engaging members of the community through health forums, health fairs, and screenings.
Follow the progress of the Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative
The first phases of the Healthy Women → Healthy FamiliesInitiative are well underway. Additional components are set to roll out over the next year.
To learn more about the initiative, or find out how you can support Vecino Health Centers as it champions the health of women and families, contact us to receive updates or to partner with Vecino. Contact the team.
Join the Initiative as a patient
Make an appointment for care directly with the Women’s Health Family Health Initiative team by contacting Alix CaDavid at 713-343-5512.
By changing “Clinic” to “Health Center” in these facility names, we highlight our commitment to our patients’ health. We believe that all families should have access to health services, not just to treat illness or injury, but also to receive services that promote their overall well-being, including preventing costly and debilitating conditions.
Comprehensive pediatric and maternity services at Airline Children and Women’s Health Center
The new name for the Airline site brings attention to our expanding women’s health services. Following an expansion due to be complete in 2023, the facility will offer a full range of health services for women of all ages.
Currently, Vecino’s center at Airline specializes in pediatric services for infants, toddlers, children, and teens from birth through age 17, as well as in maternity care, including family planning, prenatal, postnatal, and postdelivery services.
Comprehensive family health services for chronic disease management and prevention at Denver Harbor Family Health Center
Vecino’s Denver Harbor Family Health Center will continue to provide a full range of health services for children, adults, and seniors, including medical, dental, counseling, and health education, as well as prenatal and postnatal care. Special services and programming are available on-site for patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension.
Health services from a recognized health center leader
Did you know that Vecino Health Centers is recognized in the top 10% of more than 1,440 health centers nationwide for quality? By updating our facility names, we are highlighting what we have been since 1999: a community-based health system committed to improving the health of our patients with comprehensive, patient-centered, affordable, and cost-effective services where they are needed most.
A recognized leader in biotechnology, Ms. Kadala brings extensive legal expertise to the community health center
Vecino Health Centers is pleased to welcome Anita Kadala, JD, to its board of directors. Kadala is a recognized leader in the biotechnology sector. She previously served as CEO and general counsel for Ingeneron, a biotechnology company on the forefront of regenerative cell therapy technology for healthcare and life-science research.
During Kadala’s tenure at Ingeneron, the company underwent substantial growth. Kadala used her expertise to negotiate contracts with major medical device and pharmaceutical companies, facilitate public-private ventures, and seek investors in the medical services sector. Previously, she was a partner at two prominent national law firms specializing in intellectual property.
“Anita is a huge asset to Vecino’s board of directors,” says Daniel Montez, Chief Executive Officer of Vecino Health Centers. “Her leadership and expertise will greatly benefit Vecino as we navigate an increasingly complex medical landscape.”
Kadala received her Juris Doctor from University of Houston Law Center and a BA in computer engineering from Southern Methodist University. She is active as a volunteer in the community, applying her expertise to nonprofit project development and fundraising.
Why did an 8-year-old from New Jersey decide to donate his pocket money to a community health center in Houston?
The answer is found in the unlikely bond between a young boy named Jordan and his friend Dr. Susan Miller. Theirs is a story that teaches us all the importance of role models and the power we have to inspire action through our words and deeds.
A boy who wants to change the world
One weekend in February, 8-year-old Jordan watched a YouTube video about the devastation caused by Houston’s unprecedented winter storm. It might not be easy to connect a YouTube video about a storm to a donation at Vecino Health Centers. But for Jordan, the connection came surprisingly easily.
“Since he was little, Jordan has always wanted to help,” says his mother, Stacy. “He’s the type of person who, when he sees someone upset, he wants to help them. He’s been that way for as long as I can remember.”
Jordan knew Houston had seen more than its fair share of disasters over the past few years. His heart went out to the community and he knew immediately he wanted to help however he could.
“Mommy,” he said. “I want to give my money.”
Everyone should be able to get taken care of by doctors
The idea of giving back isn’t new to Jordan. His parents have always told their two boys that they have a responsibility to help others. He witnesses these values daily in his mother’s work as the founder of a nonprofit. And he learns them at his Jewish day school, where his teacher reinforces the importance of tenets like charity (tzedakah), good deeds (mitzvot),and healing the world (tikkun olam).
Another place he witnesses these values is through the work of Dr. Susan Miller, a longtime family friend. Dr. Miller is a family physician at Houston Methodist Hospital and also a board member at Vecino Health Centers. Jordan finds in her a kindred spirit.
Jordan finds a kindred spirit and role model in Dr. Susan Miller
“I can’t think of a better role model for him than [Dr. Miller],” says Stacy. “When everybody else is fleeing Houston because there’s a flood or there’s a storm, she’s going in. And that is Jordan. He is that person too.”
When Jordan asked his mother how he could help in Houston, she reached out to Dr. Miller to learn more about the needs of the community.
“When Jordan heard that there are people in Texas who struggle because they need health care, and they can’t get it because they don’t have money and they don’t have health insurance — that was very upsetting to him.”
Inspiring others with his story
During Purim, a Jewish holiday at the end of February, Jordan practices tzedakah, the act of putting money aside for charity. He decided to give the money he saved to Vecino Health Centers.
But he didn’t stop there.
Jordan knew that to do even more good, he should share his story to inspire others. So he told his third grade classmates about Dr. Miller and her work with Vecino. The class had just finished collecting money in a tzedakah box. After hearing from Jordan, they elected to give half of it to Vecino.
His older brother, Ethan, was also inspired to contribute.
That, says Stacy, is Jordan. “If he sees an individual person hurting, he wants to help. But, also, whatever he can do to change the world, he wants to change the world.”
Jordan inspired his older brother, Ethan, to contribute
Generation to generation
There is another concept in Judaism, ledor vador, that means “from generation to generation.” As Stacyputs it, “It is our responsibility to pay it forward … to empower the next generation and amplify their voices so they can carry on that torch.”
In many ways, this is an equally important part of Jordan’s story, one that goes far beyond his recent donation.
Stacy points out that Jordan trusts and loves Dr. Miller. He knows if she puts her energy toward helping the patients at Vecino Health Centers, then it is a worthwhile cause. Through his relationship with Dr. Miller, he made a personal connection to Vecino. He didn’t just ask his parents to click a button and donate money. He got involved, and he became an active agent of social change.
“I tell him he has a special light in his heart that shines out energy. He’s already doing good with it, but I know he’s only going to do more good.” At 8 years old, he’s just getting started.
Join Jordan in giving to Vecino
If you, too, are inspired by Jordan’s story, give today to Vecino Health Centers. You can include a message to Jordan in the “Gift message” field. We’ll be sure that he gets it.
