25 Jul 2015

Pescadero walking group preps for their first 5K

Isela Bustos remembers it well: the cloudy morning in March when she finally decided to talk to Yessenia Serratos, who was walking alone as usual down Stage Road in her workout clothes. She’d been seeing Serratos walking in Pescadero every morning, a solo figure on the road, rain or shine, since January. After dropping her kids at school, she slowed down and pulled up alongside Serratos, rolled down her window, and asked: what, exactly, was the goal of all this walking?

And… could she come too?

“I remember she was walking really fast, because she said she was afraid to walk alone,” says Bustos, with a laugh.

Join me tomorrow morning, Serratos replied.

And so began the grassroots fitness group, known simply as “the walking group,” that meets every morning in front of Pescadero Elementary and departs on a three-mile circuit of downtown streets before climbing a hilly road near the town cemetery.

Some mornings as many as eight women join in, chatting, laughing, and puffing their way to fitness and good health. Serratos has a pedometer strapped to her arm that also blasts music from a Bluetooth speaker, ensuring that 8 to 9 a.m. always feels more like a dance party than a workout.

The merriment helps offset the hard work the women are doing: losing weight, battling depression, increasing their fitness and flexibility. Many of them join Serratos in her commitment to walking every weekday – on cold mornings, wet mornings, mornings when the Pacific wind is a misery, not a pleasure.

But why? “I did it for myself, to have energy and strength,” explains Serratos, a 39-year-old homemaker with glasses and a can’t-sit-still energy who sandwiches a laugh in between every sentence. She started walking in December following a difficult surgery; her doctor warned her that if she didn’t lose weight and change her lifestyle to include a healthier diet, she would face more medical problems. And she wasn’t even 40.

 

Part of the running and walking group in Pescadero.

Elvira, Yessenia, Abby, and Yesi are part of the running and walking group in Pescadero.

So, with no prior exercise experience, Serratos devised a walking route that she could follow after dropping her kids off at school and be back in an hour. She has not skipped a day since December. In April she started coming to Zumba as well, which Puente offers two evenings a week in Pescadero and once a week in La Honda.

Seven months ago, she weighed 170 pounds. Now she weighs 145.

“Look at this.” Serratos pulls out a photo of herself in a pink shirt, looking heavier and standing, unsmiling, for the camera; the photo was taken in front of a strip mall in Gilroy three years ago. “This photo motivates me to never go back. I get depressed when nothing fits me. People would always ask me if I was pregnant.”

When she joined Serratos on her morning Pescadero circuit, Bustos thought she might last two weeks. She had problems of her own with anxiety and chronic pain. Soon after she started walking, her doctor offered her medications – but she declined, because she already had a sense that the walking cure was taking effect. She was right. “I had a lot of back pain; I was having trouble sleeping. When I started walking, it went away – it only happens once in a while now,” says Bustos. “My knee was also hurting – I was feeling needles there – and it’s gone away.”

Bustos has seen other changes: to her weight (she’s lost 25 pounds), to her self-esteem, and to her eating habits. “I like it because I don’t have to pay a gym to help me lose weight. And I save because I eat less.”

Bustos’ family approves. “My husband says it’s been a long time since he’s seen me like this,” she says with a giggle. “Even my son says, ‘What happened to mom? She’s changed so much.’”

Stories like Bustos’ are becoming common among local mothers, a group that Puente has served over the years with targeted programs to battle maternal depression and workshops on selecting and cooking nutritious food. It’s a very good sign that those messages are resonating on a deeper level, says Molly Wolfes, Community Health Coordinator for Puente.

“The most exciting part of this is that it evolved within the community,” she says. “I think it says a lot about where the community is going. People are becoming more aware of their health.”

You can see it in the very full Zumba classes at Puente, including a new class in La Honda on Wednesdays at 5 p.m.

“Even the kind of food that people bring to events is changing. When I got here it was coke and brownies and chicharrón. Now people are bringing beans and fruit and water with cucumber in it,” adds Wolfes.

Yessenia Serratos, second from left, and Molly Wolfes, front center, with members of the Pescadero running and walking group one week.

Yessenia Serratos, second from left, and Molly Wolfes, front center, with members of the Pescadero running and walking group one week.

Now the walking group has taken their goal-setting to a whole new level. Many of the women, who could barely walk three miles six months ago, have decided to enter Puente’s third annual Veggie Fun Walk/Run, a 5k run/walk on August 15. The 5k is the brainchild of Puente staff member Abby Mohaupt and has become known as the event where people dress up in funny fruit and vegetable costumes. It takes place during the Pescadero Arts and Fun Festival.

Many of the women in the walking group have never run a race before and they are taking their training seriously. Several Puente staff members, including Mohaupt, Wolfes, and Mariela Lopez, walk together with the group, and they report that many of the women have overtaken them and are going faster and farther than they do. They have even run the racecourse already to see if they could do it.

Bustos has never run a race before, and she thinks she will succeed if she runs for a few minutes and then slows to a walk, before picking back up again. “I’m a little nervous and a little excited,” she confesses. “Yessenia said she’s doing it, so we’re really going to help each other – give each other energy.”

Serratos herself has no fears about the 5k. She’s not only feeling empowered these days. She feels limitless.

“Sometimes I say to myself, I want to fly, to fly!” she exclaims, laughing again and again. “I can’t fly, so I had to learn to run.”

Register for Puente’s third annual 5k Veggie Fun Run/Walk ahead of August 15 and save $3 off the $15 ticket price. Enjoy local food at the finish line. Runners and walkers welcome. Kids and dogs, too. Details and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/third-annual-puente-5k-fun-runwalk-tickets-16706472509

16 Feb 2015

From students to seniors, Puente bridges the health care gap

For a long time in this country, having a health insurance plan was similar to a decent education – if you were fortunate in life, you could get one. If you were unlucky, you couldn’t.

Now, it’s more like having clothes. You need to have the right kind clothing for your culture or climate or activity. But, getting just the right clothing can be a challenge.

Here on the South Coast, Puente has been busy getting people enrolled in Covered California, the online health insurance marketplace created under the federal Affordable Care Act, as well as many other health coverage programs.

Nine out of ten Americans have some form of government insurance (Medicare, Medi-Cal, or coverage for veterans) or have an employer-based insurance plan. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, most people who are uninsured are in low-income working families. In 2013, nearly 8 in 10 were in a family with a worker, and nearly 6 in 10 have family income below 200% of poverty. Reflecting the more limited availability of public coverage, adults have been more likely to be uninsured than children. People of color are at higher risk of being uninsured than non-Hispanic Whites.

And so, here in Pescadero, farm, nursery, and service workers, young adults, and other contract or part-time workers can fall through the gaps. According to the approximately 1,100 South Coast residents surveyed in Puente’s health survey last year, only 8 in 10 people reported having health insurance, 10% lower than the national average. Now Puente is working hard to help every neighbor find coverage.

“We didn’t get as much interest as we had expected” in Covered California, observes Molly Wolfes, Community Health Coordinator for Puente. (This is currently a statewide problem among Latinos.) There was also “a lot of confusion” with choosing the correct plan, to the point where some families had to come back to Puente several times to resolve problems and complete their applications.

Many people want to choose the right plan, or have it be comparable to their previous plan but deciding is not always that easy. And some people would prefer to sign up for Medi-Cal, which is free, but only people that fall below a certain income can qualify. “For people with higher incomes, the monthly premium for Covered California can be a hard pill to swallow. I don’t think people are used to paying that much for health care, yet most recognize that coverage is essential,” says Wolfes.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, people who are uninsured often face unaffordable medical bills when they do seek care. In 2013, nearly 40% of uninsured adults said they had outstanding medical bills, and a fifth said they had medical bills that caused serious financial strain.  These bills can quickly translate into medical debt since most people who are uninsured have low or moderate incomes and have little, if any, savings.

Puente, working-side-by-side with a Human Services Agency Benefits Analyst from San Mateo County, enrolled 13 locals and assisted many more with California Covered information during the sign-up period that ended at midnight on February 15, slightly more than last winter.

Thanks to Puente’s close partnership with San Mateo County’s Health Coverage Unit, four Puente staff members are Certified Enrollment Counselors who can assist in enrollment in health coverage in county, state, and federal programs.

Throughout 2014, nearly 200 people who walked into Puente’s offices walked out with some form of coverage, based on their qualifications – either under Covered California, Medi-Cal, ACE (coverage for adults age 19 through 64 who are not eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare programs, live in San Mateo County, and have low to middle income, may be eligible, regardless of immigration status) or Healthy Kids (coverage for uninsured children from birth to age 19 who are not eligible for Medi-Cal, regardless of immigration status).  According to Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel, “Puente helps make healthcare available to all residents, regardless of immigration status, so families with mixed status or individuals who are not sure whether they should seek help can feel comfortable exploring their options with Puente.”

One reason people are getting health care is to avoid paying a tax penalty imposed by the government, or because they think they can get a better deal through a different plan. Another reason is that some parents are being extra-conscientious for their children’s sake.

Some of the people who come into Puente seeking health coverage are signing up for Medi-Cal. Until recently, if you were between the ages of 19 and 64, you could not get state-sponsored coverage through Medi-Cal – one of the biggest coverage gaps in the industry. But a landmark Medi-Cal expansion in 2014 gave several million low-income Californians the chance to qualify.

Jenny Dunbar is one of them. Dunbar, whose name has been changed, is a South Coast farmer in her late twenties who gave up a job (with health care) to work as an apprentice at a local farm, where she earns a small stipend for living expenses. Many young people are in a similar situation, she says.

“A lot of us had private health insurance through our jobs or through our parents and then all of a sudden we didn’t. You’re shot out into this nebulous medical system you were never taught to navigate.”

Dunbar was left paying a small fortune each month out of pocket for health care back in August when she figured Puente might have some better options. She was right. Within 30 minutes of visiting Puente, she was all signed up for Medi-Cal.

“I can’t believe I waited so long. There’s a general sense of peace about my life now, day to day. I can take more risks in my activities, and know there’s a safety net if I need it,” says Dunbar, referring to the potential for both on-the-job accidents and activities like swimming and skiing.

Having health insurance is one thing. Using it is another. Some people are struggling to find in-network doctors and specialists that are affordable and convenient, says Beto Razo, a Benefits Analyst with San Mateo County’s Human Services Agency. He works from Puente four days a week, helping participants sign up for Medi-Cal and Covered California, as well as CalFresh and CalWorks.

Razo says many students and young adults are enrolling in health insurance for the first time. “They don’t understand how things work now, with co-pays and deductions,” he says, so he takes the time to explain everything to them. A recent study showed that students can save money by buying health insurance, as opposed to paying a fine. And getting in the habit of doing it early bodes well for their habits later in life.

“At that age they don’t go to the doctor enough. It’s nice to see them come in and be responsible for themselves,” says Razo.

To make an appointment for health coverage, call Puente at 650.879.1691.

05 May 2014

Health System and Puente Partner to Immunize Farm Workers

Mindful of how dangerous farm work can be, Puente undertook an unprecedented immunization project in April that touched the lives of hundreds of farm and nursery workers. Puente teamed up with a medical team from San Mateo County Health System to administer a TDAP vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) at 18 different farms around Pescadero and one winery in La Honda. The outreach campaign, Puente’s most ambitious immunization mission to date, resulted in vaccines for 229 farm workers over four days in April. It was Puente’s most extensive field immunization drive.

That’s 229 people who won’t be at risk of a tetanus infection the next time they hurt themselves on the job, says Ben Ranz, Puente’s Community Outreach Coordinator.

“Obviously farm workers work with sharp objects and have the risk of cutting themselves and getting infected.”

Ranz coordinated the site visits with San Mateo Medical Center’s Coastside Clinic as well as other County public health staff, which provided the supplies and medical staff. The idea for the TDAP shots came from an email he received from Blue House Farm, a small organic farm in Pescadero where a worker had cut himself. It was unclear whether he had ever received a tetanus shot, and a Blue House Farm representative wanted to know whether Puente was offering that service.

Puente board member Gabriel Echeverria at Silver Terrace Nursery

Puente board member Gabriel Echeverria at Silver Terrace Nursery

Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel saw an opportunity to meet a crucial need. She also thought to combine the immunizations with health screenings, to better understand the overall health needs of the community. Therefore, during the immunizations, Puente also collected information on how many people had medical insurance, and if so, what kind.

When voters approved Measure A last year, the county set aside monies to build and staff a mobile health van that will begin circulating on the South Coast in late 2014 or early 2015. But “there’s no reason to wait to provide services,” says Lobel. “Everyone felt that we wanted to see progress right away.”

medicalfields

Team gets ready for line of workers

It was also a great opportunity for the staff of the Coastside Clinic to meet some of the participants they will be serving once the medical van starts to make the rounds and increase South Coast residents’ familiarity with the resources and services offered by the County.

Puente coordinates flu shots each year, typically in conjunction with a big event like Día de los Muertos. But April’s field outreach helped Puente contact a whole new segment of the population who don’t normally come into town.

The TDAP shots were such a success that Puente is already planning its next medical outreach campaigns for later this year. They will focus on mammograms and blood screenings for diabetes, a common ailment in the farm worker population.

“This is just going to be the beginning,” says Lobel.

“We are so pleased to have reached so many through this effort given our goal to prevent health issues from occurring at all,” said Health System Director of Strategic Operations, Srija Srinivasan.  “We value our partnership with Puente and laud the tireless, “can do’ team that worked closely with the farm owners to reach these residents.”