Vic Hill spent 63 years without health care. Two years ago, he signed up for health insurance through Puente. It was just in the nick of time. A San Mateo County doctor gave him a physical, ran some tests, and found stage II colon cancer.

“It’s a disturbing cancer from the standpoint of not being able to feel it at all,” muses Hill, who lives in La Honda on a fixed income.

Thanks to San Mateo County’s Medicaid Coverage Expansion program (MCE), Hill had successful colon surgery to remove the cancer – for free. His doctor’s visits and medications were free, too.

“I’m feeling fortunate, because it looks as though it was removed and we got it in time. Thank you, Puente,” says Hill, who has a general aversion to doctors and hadn’t been to a hospital since he was 9 years old.

Staff members at Puente’s La Honda office made a point of telling Hill about Puente’s medical safety net services when he visited the La Honda Farmer’s Market one day in 2010.

Puente acts as an agent for numerous county-backed health care options for the uninsured. Between 2008 and 2012, Puente signed up or renewed a whopping 965 children and adults for programs like Healthy Families and Healthy Kids. The number of local enrollees has grown every year, and includes coverage for undocumented children.

Puente recently mounted a major campaign to reach out to La Honda residents like Hill, who are living in a part of the region that is even more geographically isolated than Pescadero. Many live hand-to-mouth, stretching dollars from their monthly Social Security checks, and may not have the wherewithal to drive to Half Moon Bay or San Mateo to get enrolled in a health care program, says Lorena Vargas de Mendez, Puente’s Safety Net Services Manager.

“I know a lady in La Honda who doesn’t have a car. The fact that Puente was there to help her get enrolled in comprehensive health coverage is huge,” says Vargas de Mendez.

Hill still doesn’t much enjoy going to the doctor. But he’s sold on the benefits of having Puente in the neighborhood.

“Without some kind of social safety net I can’t imagine what people around here would be doing,” he says.

Contact Lorena Vargas to Mendez to learn more about Puente’s safety net services and whether you qualify. lvargas@mypuente.org or (650) 879-1691 x116

It won’t be long until the joy of the holidays gives way to the sting of tax season. But a special, free, tax preparation service offered by Puente helps the medicine go down – and even leave a pleasant aftertaste.

Puente’s program, now in its 5^th year, helps low-income South Coast residents prepare hassle-free tax returns through Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, a regional program sponsored by United Way. The service is offered free of charge.

The best part: participants walk in the door convinced they’ll have to part with a large chunk of their income. Many of them are delighted to discover that they qualify for substantial tax refunds, says Rita Mancera, Program Director for Puente.

Last year Puente helped 59 participants file their taxes, resulting in refunds totaling $73,608.

For a large family getting by on a farmworker’s salary, that’s very encouraging news.

“Their income is very low, and things are very expensive in California,” says Mancera. “Even if you go to Safeway for groceries, everything is more expensive than if you go to one of the Mexican stores. I think it’s important that they keep every dollar they can and that it stretches as far as it can.”

Take Samantha [name changed to protect privacy], a local mother who filed her taxes for the first time last year with Puente. She was enrolled in college and her education, along with a large number of dependents, qualified her family for a whopping $8,000 in tax refunds.

“They were very surprised,” says Mancera. “They didn’t know what the education credits meant to them until we helped them prepare their tax return.”

Half the people who file taxes with Puente don’t have Social Security numbers, but they still have to file taxes. This group of people uses ITINs, or Individual Tax Preparation Numbers, to meet their tax obligations. Puente is one of the only tax preparers on the Peninsula that offers this service, according to Mancera.

“For the purposes of tax time, everyone is considered a resident,” she says.

Now Puente needs YOUR help. Puente needs a few volunteers to prepare taxes for your South Coast neighbors. The job entails 3 hours of work per week during tax time, and a 15-hour self-guided training to get qualified. To volunteer, please contact Abby Mohaupt no later than January 11 at amohaupt@mypuente.org or 650.879.1691.

Of all the monthly gifts Puente could ask for, none are less glamorous than diapers. But for Léonie Walker, that may be part of the appeal. Puente’s resident “Diaper Donor” has single-handedly purchased diapers for Puente’s South Coast families for four years straight.

“It’s so much more fun to go out and buy diapers than it is to write a check,” enthuses Walker, who lives in Portola Valley with her spouse (and fellow Puente supporter) Dr. Kate O’Hanlan.

Walker makes one trip per month to Costco to purchase a load of diapers, which are delivered to Puente.

Diapers are expensive, even at Costco. Walker’s extraordinary generosity tallies $5,000 per year – that’s $20,000 for four years of diaper runs.  She also makes occasional financial contributions to Puente.

Walker and O’Hanlon have a long history of philanthropy. They have a donor advised fund at Horizons Foundation and give generously to organizations that focus on LGBT human rights and the rights of women and girls. Walker is a past member of the Board of Directors of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York.

But the work they do for Puente feels different, says Walker.

“Puente feels closer and more connected to me than the organizations we support in different cities. We feel like we’re making a visceral difference,” she says.

They are, says Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel.

“Kate and Léonie are a steady presence in the lives of hundreds of children who will never know their names,” attests Lobel. “For Léonie, the diapers are a meditation, a belief that one simple gesture, repeated over and over again, can literally bring comfort to those she will never meet.”

Walker is a longtime friend of Lobel’s and she takes the time to endorse Puente at every opportunity – even in the checkout line when she’s buying diapers.

“Somebody will give me a look and say, ‘Do you run a daycare center?’ – and I get to tell them about Puente,” laughs Walker. “I’ve had people hand me a twenty and say, ‘This is for the organization.”

To make a donation to Puente, contact Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or 650.879.1691 x144.